Insider Selling: Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) CEO Sells 7,000 Shares of Stock

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total value of $995,190.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $147.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.76 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.17 and a 1 year high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 39.64% and a net margin of 28.59%. Analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QLYS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.57.

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.