Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 12.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,356 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,976 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Qualys were worth $10,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Qualys by 545.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys during the first quarter worth about $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Qualys by 149.0% during the second 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $124.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.51. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 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 firm had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Qualys’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 59,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,011,910.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 59,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,011,910.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total transaction of $76,100.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 86,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,599.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,535 shares of company stock valued at $1,624,105. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on QLYS shares. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $167.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.83.

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.