Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,237 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Qualys worth $4,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 72,400 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,152,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 100,357 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,072,000 after acquiring an additional 14,170 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,310,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.14.

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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total transaction of $226,676.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 112,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $127.92 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.17 and a 52-week high of $174.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $135.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.05.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.