Voya Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Qualys, Inc. by 3.2% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 9,212 shares, bringing its total ownership to 293,050 shares worth approximately $36.9 million.
• CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 12,000 shares valued at about $1.79 million, resulting in a 5.22% decrease in his ownership, while other insiders also sold a total of 52,222 shares worth over $7.25 million in the last quarter.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Qualys with Jefferies Financial Group setting it at $150, while the stock received a consensus rating of "Hold" and current average target price of $141.

Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 293,050 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 9,212 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.81% of Qualys worth $36,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cim LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 8,561 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Qualys by 1.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,776 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Qualys by 3.7% in the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,809 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Qualys by 1.0% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,300 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake 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. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on QLYS. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Qualys from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised Qualys to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Qualys Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $132.08. 385,797 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 278,432. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.95. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $170.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%.The firm had revenue of $164.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.25 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.200-6.5 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.6 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.95, for a total transaction of $1,104,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 207,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,019,204. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John A. Zangardi sold 3,103 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.94, for a total value of $418,718.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,071 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $549,340.74. This represents a 43.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 43,065 shares of company stock valued at $5,976,093. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.