Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,139 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,613 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.34% of Qualys worth $24,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Qualys by 172.3% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 193,056 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $37,893,000 after purchasing an additional 122,168 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 201,932.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 117,179 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $23,000,000 after buying an additional 117,121 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 46.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 250,661 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,238,000 after acquiring an additional 80,079 shares in the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,400,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 54,219 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 21st. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total transaction of $690,594.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.91, for a total value of $235,821.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 63,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,398,729.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total transaction of $690,594.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,792 shares of company stock worth $2,455,489 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $165.29 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $166.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.79. The stock has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $107.00 and a 12 month high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $144.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.69 million. Qualys had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 49.06%. As a group, analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qualys Company Profile

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.