Nutshell Asset Management Ltd Takes Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Nutshell Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 22,279 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,000. Qualys accounts for approximately 2.0% of Nutshell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Qualys by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $64,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Qualys by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $15,937,000. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $376,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.36.

Qualys Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $118.59 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.67 and a 12-month high of $174.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $133.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,595 shares of company stock valued at $3,691,922. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Qualys

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.