Wedbush Securities Inc. Raises Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 23.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,244 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Qualys were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Qualys by 1,666.7% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Qualys by 545.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 294.7% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $126.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75 and a beta of 0.46. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.32 and a 1 year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 29.36% and a return on equity of 44.80%. The company had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Qualys’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total value of $179,736.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,286 shares in the company, valued at $8,011,910.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.75, for a total value of $91,771.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,135,338.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total transaction of $179,736.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,011,910.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,535 shares of company stock worth $1,624,105. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Qualys from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.83.

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.