New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,092 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 3,685 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.06% of Qualys worth $2,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Qualys during the third quarter valued at about $445,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Qualys by 208.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,187 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $11,072,000 after purchasing an additional 58,252 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 428.9% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,256 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,345,000 after buying an additional 14,804 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,015 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,525,000 after buying an additional 8,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Qualys by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded down $1.94 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $132.43. 242,745 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 379,587. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.17 and a 52 week high of $174.31. The company's 50 day moving average price is $139.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.66.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QLYS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $146.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total transaction of $209,616.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 113,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,885,415.24. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.48, for a total value of $73,227.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,118,226.04. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,813 shares of company stock valued at $5,278,133. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.