Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,097 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Qualys worth $5,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 101.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,214 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $14,415,000 after buying an additional 56,613 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Qualys by 1,386.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $49,876,000 after acquiring an additional 331,766 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its holdings in Qualys by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 20,972 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 6,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Qualys by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,177 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during 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 $135.90 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.61 and a 1 year high of $170.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.44.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. The business had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total value of $866,670.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,313 shares in the company, valued at $30,496,012.53. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,905,108 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on QLYS. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Wedbush reduced their target price on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank set a $142.00 price target on Qualys and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.50.

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.