California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 64.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,066 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 118,693 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Qualys worth $9,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,333,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Qualys by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Qualys by 12.7% during the fourth 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. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,035 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on QLYS shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.66, for a total transaction of $123,180.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 62,295 shares in the company, valued at $8,700,119.70. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,654,266. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $124.10. The company had a trading volume of 444,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,832. Qualys, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.61 and a 52 week high of $174.20. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $130.64 and a 200 day moving average of $136.14.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. Research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current 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.