Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 172.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 193,056 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 122,168 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.52% of Qualys worth $37,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in QLYS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Qualys by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,739,966 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $570,532,000 after buying an additional 45,867 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in Qualys by 5.0% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,137,107 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $173,466,000 after buying an additional 54,219 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Qualys by 1.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 887,988 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $135,463,000 after buying an additional 12,794 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Qualys by 2.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 570,957 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $87,099,000 after buying an additional 14,273 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Qualys by 2.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 517,735 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $78,980,000 after buying an additional 10,946 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qualys Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $170.36 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $166.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.54. The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.17 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.00 and a 52-week high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $144.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.69 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 49.06% and a net margin of 27.34%. Sell-side analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.33, for a total value of $241,457.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 62,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,477,200.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.33, for a total value of $241,457.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 62,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,477,200.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total value of $690,594.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 194,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,792 shares of company stock worth $2,455,489 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 21st. TD Cowen started coverage on Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Qualys in a report on Friday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.57.

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.