Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 376,100 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 33,700 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 1.03% of Qualys worth $52,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Qualys by 1,386.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $49,876,000 after buying an additional 331,766 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Qualys by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $604,721,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $147,178,000 after acquiring an additional 123,530 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $15,937,000. Finally, CDAM UK Ltd increased its position in Qualys by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 611,793 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $85,786,000 after purchasing an additional 108,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, 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 transaction of $67,795.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,122 shares of company stock worth $3,484,692. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on QLYS. Northland Securities reiterated 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.36.

Qualys Stock Up 9.1 %

QLYS stock opened at $125.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 0.71. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.61 and a 52-week high of $174.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.15.

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 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share 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.