Barclays PLC Increases Stock Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 101.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,214 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,613 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.31% of Qualys worth $14,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 100.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 367,470 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $52,401,000 after purchasing an additional 184,403 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 95.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 286,005 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $40,771,000 after buying an additional 139,897 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 14.5% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 926,093 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $118,966,000 after buying an additional 117,079 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,132,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 25.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 315,970 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $44,994,000 after acquiring an additional 64,394 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $147.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50 and a beta of 0.54. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $206.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $139.96 and its 200 day moving average is $135.52.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. Qualys had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 40.24%. The firm had revenue of $153.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QLYS has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.80.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total transaction of $77,468.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 85,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,501,252.98. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total transaction of $1,322,774.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 64,032 shares in the company, valued at $9,900,627.84. This trade represents a 11.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,190 shares of company stock valued at $4,449,290 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.