Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Position Raised by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,072 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.13% of Qualys worth $9,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 125,139 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $24,585,000 after acquiring an additional 19,613 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $197,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 17,403 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,416,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter worth about $3,731,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.33, for a total transaction of $241,457.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,477,200.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.33, for a total transaction of $241,457.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 62,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,477,200.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.96, for a total value of $661,414.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,743,967.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,455,489 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualys Trading Down 0.4 %

QLYS stock opened at $165.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 40.93 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.00 and a 1 year high of $206.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.74.

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