Kestra Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 79.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,919 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,733 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in Qualys were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Qualys by 1,386.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,699 shares of the software maker's stock worth $49,876,000 after acquiring an additional 331,766 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Qualys by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker's stock worth $147,178,000 after acquiring an additional 123,530 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Qualys by 208.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,187 shares of the software maker's stock worth $11,072,000 after acquiring an additional 58,252 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Qualys by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,214 shares of the software maker's stock worth $14,415,000 after acquiring an additional 56,613 shares during the period. Finally, CDAM UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. CDAM UK Ltd now owns 502,913 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $64,604,000 after purchasing an additional 38,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total transaction of $995,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. This represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 11.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,288 shares of company stock valued at $5,204,906. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded down $3.20 on Friday, hitting $136.20. 407,349 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,166. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $174.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $140.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.48. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QLYS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $146.57.

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.