Inspire Advisors LLC Invests $652,000 in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC invested approximately $652,000 in Qualys, Inc. by purchasing 5,178 shares in the first quarter, according to their recent 13F filing.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds currently own 99.31% of Qualys' stock, indicating significant professional interest in the company.
• Qualys reported earnings of $1.67 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.46, with revenue growing 9.7% year-over-year.

Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,178 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $652,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 24.4% during the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 41,370 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $5,210,000 after acquiring an additional 8,120 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Qualys by 4.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,143 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Novem Group raised its stake in Qualys by 35.0% in the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 7,008 shares of the software maker's stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Qualys by 1.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 110,027 shares of the software maker's stock worth $13,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys in the first quarter worth $360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $133.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 98,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 331,115. Qualys, Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.61 and a 1 year high of $170.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36 and a beta of 0.62. The business's fifty day moving average is $140.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.63.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. Qualys had a net margin of 29.19% and a return on equity of 38.05%. The company had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.07, for a total transaction of $91,368.99. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,931,404.16. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.40, for a total transaction of $1,176,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 215,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,889,140.80. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,598 shares of company stock worth $6,529,928. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on QLYS. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank set a $142.00 price target on shares of Qualys and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $137.50.

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.