Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,237 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,809 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Qualys by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in Qualys by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $91,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on QLYS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Qualys Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $127.92 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.17 and a 12-month high of $174.20. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.99 and a 200 day moving average of $136.05.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. Equities research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.