Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 101,558 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 11,507 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Qualys were worth $14,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings 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. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 56.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qualys Trading Down 1.5 %

QLYS stock opened at $115.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.23. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.61 and a 12 month high of $174.20.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS 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, equities analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on QLYS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualys has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,122 shares of company stock valued at $3,484,692. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.