Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 5,756 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 84.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,580 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 5,756 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Qualys were worth $1,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Qualys by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys in the fourth quarter worth $91,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Qualys by 68.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total value 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 represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,258 shares of company stock worth $3,955,359. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Qualys Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of QLYS traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $131.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 171,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,704. The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $139.05 and a 200 day moving average of $135.87. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research raised Qualys from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.