Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,945 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Qualys by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $64,016,000 after buying an additional 3,848 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,937,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Qualys by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at about $376,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Qualys by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 540 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.86, for a total transaction of $63,644.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 64,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,603,502.18. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.93, for a total transaction of $515,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,633,027.38. This represents a 24.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,905,108 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.50.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $136.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $126.48 and its 200-day moving average is $136.64. Qualys, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.61 and a 52 week high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. Qualys’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS 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.