Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Holdings Lessened by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,132 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Qualys were worth $299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of QLYS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1,386.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $49,876,000 after acquiring an additional 331,766 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $604,721,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $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 4th quarter worth about $15,937,000. Finally, CDAM UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 611,793 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $85,786,000 after acquiring an additional 108,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total value of $866,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,313 shares in the company, valued at $30,496,012.53. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,905,108 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Scotiabank set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Qualys and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.50.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $135.90 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $126.22 and its 200-day moving average is $136.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.05 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.