AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 338,702 Shares of Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Qualys, Inc. by 96.8%, acquiring a total of 688,776 shares valued at approximately $85.39 million.
• Qualys reported quarterly earnings of $1.68 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates by 21 cents, and achieved a revenue of $164.06 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades have raised Qualys' price targets, with Wedbush setting the new target at $155, reflecting positive sentiment among analysts despite one downgrade to a hold rating.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 96.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 688,776 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 338,702 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 1.90% of Qualys worth $85,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Qualys by 1.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,776 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Qualys by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,300 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,809 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Qualys by 27.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 500 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Qualys by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,287 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualys Trading Up 3.1%

NASDAQ QLYS traded up $4.12 on Thursday, reaching $135.65. 246,417 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 280,472. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $112.61 and a one year high of $170.00. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $135.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08 and a beta of 0.65.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%.The business had revenue of $164.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Qualys's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.200-6.5 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.6 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other news, Director Kristi Marie Rogers sold 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.70, for a total value of $228,990.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,596 shares in the company, valued at $1,157,881.20. The trade was a 16.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.26, for a total value of $134,640.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 94,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,494,337.68. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,222 shares of company stock worth $7,252,957. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on QLYS shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Wedbush increased their target price on Qualys from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Qualys to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

About Qualys

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.