Empowered Funds LLC Makes New $1.51 Million Investment in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,752 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,508,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,751 shares of the software maker's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 53.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 60.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,580 shares of the software maker's stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 40.3% during the third quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the third quarter valued at $1,937,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Qualys stock traded down $1.72 on Wednesday, reaching $145.98. The stock had a trading volume of 216,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,471. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $141.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.31. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.17 and a 1 year high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Qualys from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,900,627.84. This trade represents a 11.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,288 shares of company stock valued at $5,204,906. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Qualys 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.