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

Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 101.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 112,214 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 56,613 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $14,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 294.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 149.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $147.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50 and a beta of 0.54. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $153.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.74 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 28.72%. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QLYS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” 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. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,885,508.40. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total transaction of $209,616.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at $17,885,415.24. This represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,190 shares of company stock worth $4,449,290 over the last quarter. 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.