Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Grows Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 69.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,661 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Qualys were worth $654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total value of $209,616.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at $17,885,415.24. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,813 shares of company stock worth $5,278,133 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on QLYS shares. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Qualys from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.57.

Qualys Stock Performance

Qualys stock opened at $131.46 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $139.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS 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, analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current 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.