Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,945 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,333,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 932 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,035 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $138.21 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $170.00.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on QLYS. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank set a $142.00 target price on Qualys and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $1,633,027.38. The trade was a 24.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,904,252. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.