Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Buys 12,741 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 32.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,934 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 12,741 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.14% of Qualys worth $7,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Qualys by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,463 shares of the software maker's stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,150,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,110,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 8,590 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Qualys by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $604,721,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ QLYS traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $124.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 444,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,832. The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.14. Qualys, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.61 and a 52 week high of $174.20.

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Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total transaction of $123,180.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,700,119.70. This trade represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,654,266. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $144.36.

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.