Argent Capital Management LLC Acquires 425 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 13.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,546 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of QLYS. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 545.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. DecisionPoint Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 294.7% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Qualys by 149.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,885,508.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.56, for a total value of $165,446.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,830,273.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,535 shares of company stock worth $1,442,641. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.23.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS stock traded down $0.68 on Thursday, hitting $120.82. The stock had a trading volume of 46,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,873. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $124.54 and a 200 day moving average of $139.04. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.32 and a 12-month high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 29.36% and a return on equity of 44.80%. The company had revenue of $148.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Qualys’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qualys Company Profile

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.