Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,262,931 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 16,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $178,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 21.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,399 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $7,374,000 after purchasing an additional 10,170 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,199 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 2,197 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in Qualys by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Qualys in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $238,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management grew its position in Qualys by 14.2% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 11,333 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 4,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $628,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,785,980. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,960 shares of company stock valued at $3,465,246 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on QLYS shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Qualys Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $118.59 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.71. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.67 and a fifty-two week high of $174.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.49.

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

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.