American Century Companies Inc. Sells 5,442 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,134 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 5,442 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.23% of Qualys worth $11,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of QLYS. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 21.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,399 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $7,374,000 after purchasing an additional 10,170 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Qualys by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,320 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $8,134,000 after buying an additional 4,040 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Qualys by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 31,081 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after buying an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,199 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 2,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,991,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualys Stock Up 2.2 %

QLYS stock opened at $128.67 on Wednesday. Qualys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.17 and a twelve month high of $174.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.51.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted 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 net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QLYS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Qualys 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.