Willis Investment Counsel Decreases Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Willis Investment Counsel lowered its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,504 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Qualys were worth $1,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 3.9% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,057 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 70.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,721 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the first quarter worth $1,224,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Qualys by 2.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 91,561 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $13,039,000 after buying an additional 1,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in Qualys by 10.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,237 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on QLYS shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Qualys from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Northland Securities lifted their price target on Qualys from $132.00 to $136.00 in a report on Friday, August 4th. UBS Group started coverage on Qualys in a report on Thursday, July 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. William Blair assumed coverage on Qualys in a report on Tuesday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Qualys in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.90, for a total value of $650,149.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,191,886. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,003 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.60, for a total value of $758,454.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 153,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,254,833.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.90, for a total transaction of $650,149.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,191,886. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,539 shares of company stock worth $4,116,961. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Qualys Stock Performance

Qualys stock traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $149.79. 831,071 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,205. The stock has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.25 and a beta of 0.61. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.10 and a 52-week high of $157.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $143.81 and its 200 day moving average is $130.42.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The software maker reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $137.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.55 million. Qualys had a net margin of 22.98% and a return on equity of 40.52%. Equities research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc provides cloud-based information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which includes Vulnerability Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Threat Protection; Continuous Monitoring; Patch Management; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Certificate Assessment; SaaS Detection and Response; Secure Enterprise Mobility; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Context Extended Detection and Response; Network Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; Security Configuration Assessment; PCI Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; Security Assessment Questionnaire; Out of-Band Configuration Assessment; Web Application Scanning; Web Application Firewall; Global Asset Inventory; Cybersecurity Asset Management; Certificate Inventory; Cloud Inventory; Cloud Security Assessment; and Container Security.