Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $2.02 Million Investment in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,300 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,022,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 58.2% in the 1st quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 242 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 218.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 210 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 282 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 3,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 341 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.96, for a total transaction of $661,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 193,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,743,967.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.78, for a total transaction of $197,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 63,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,510,573.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.96, for a total value of $661,414.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,743,967.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,349 shares of company stock valued at $2,411,812. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $162.75 on Thursday. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.00 and a 52-week high of $206.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.28 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $166.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.13.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.26. Qualys had a return on equity of 49.06% and a net margin of 27.34%. The firm had revenue of $144.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.69 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.23.

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.