Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Raises Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,934 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 12,741 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.14% of Qualys worth $7,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,333,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Qualys by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,035 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $118.59 on Monday. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.67 and a 1-year high of $174.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $133.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,960 shares of company stock valued at $3,465,246. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.36.

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.