Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,851 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Qualys were worth $1,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.5% in the third quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC lifted its position in Qualys by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 23,323 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,270,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Qualys by 56.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.48, for a total value of $73,227.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,373 shares in the company, valued at $9,118,226.04. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,813 shares of company stock valued at $5,278,133. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Qualys Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $133.26 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $139.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.17 and a 12 month high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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.