Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.16 Million Stock Holdings in Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,973 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,022 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of Qualys worth $14,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $144,133,000 after buying an additional 323,324 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Qualys by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,137,864 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $162,567,000 after acquiring an additional 88,051 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 100.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 136,835 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $19,535,000 after acquiring an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Qualys by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,051,673 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $150,253,000 after acquiring an additional 65,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Qualys by 122.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 107,027 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after purchasing an additional 58,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $113.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84 and a beta of 0.53. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $107.17 and a 12 month high of $155.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.75 and a 200-day moving average of $134.65.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.65% and a net margin of 29.64%.The firm had revenue of $175.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. Analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 6,799 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total transaction of $873,399.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,489 shares in the company, valued at $11,367,296.94. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.76, for a total transaction of $668,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 247,800 shares in the company, valued at $33,145,728. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 42,227 shares of company stock worth $5,875,962 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on QLYS. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Qualys from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, December 29th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.46.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc (NASDAQ: QLYS) is a leading provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions designed to help organizations streamline their IT security programs. Operating on a unified, modular platform, Qualys offers continuous visibility into global IT assets through a combination of lightweight cloud agents and on-premises scanner appliances. The platform supports an array of security and compliance use cases, enabling real-time detection of vulnerabilities, policy violations and misconfigurations across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments.

The company’s flagship Qualys Cloud Platform delivers a suite of integrated applications, including vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR), policy compliance, web application scanning, file integrity monitoring, asset inventory and container security.