Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $16.66 Million Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS – Get Rating) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 148,429 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,603 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Qualys were worth $16,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of QLYS. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Qualys by 1.9% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,477,215 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $624,078,000 after acquiring an additional 83,343 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,450,602 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $480,980,000 after buying an additional 21,420 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 21.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,309,842 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $182,579,000 after acquiring an additional 232,244 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Qualys by 4.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,206,968 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $168,239,000 after buying an additional 53,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,048,125 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $117,631,000 after acquiring an additional 32,389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $120.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.17. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.10 and a 12 month high of $162.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 41.59 and a beta of 0.63.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,832 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Friday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.07, for a total transaction of $746,904.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 176,394 shares in the company, valued at $22,590,779.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.07, for a total value of $746,904.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 176,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,590,779.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.33, for a total value of $140,786.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 62,409 shares in the company, valued at $7,509,674.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,894 shares of company stock worth $2,210,474. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wolfe Research lowered Qualys from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Finally, Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.73.

About Qualys

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Qualys, Inc engages in the provision of cloud security and compliance solutions. Its products enable organizations to identify security risks to information technology infrastructures, help protect information technology systems and applications from cyber attacks, and achieve compliance with internal policies and external regulations.