Qualys, Inc. $QLYS Stake Decreased by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec has significantly reduced its position in Qualys, Inc. by 91.8%, now owning only 4,893 shares valued at $616,000 after selling 55,057 shares.
• Qualys reported a strong earnings performance with $1.68 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.47 EPS and demonstrating a 10.3% revenue growth compared to the previous year.
• Several large investors, including Northern Trust Corp and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, have increased their stakes in Qualys, indicating continued institutional interest amid recent changes.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lessened its holdings in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 91.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,893 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 55,057 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Qualys were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 1.2% during the 1st 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 period. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,809 shares of the software maker's stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 1.0% during 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. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 500 shares of the software maker's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on QLYS shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Qualys from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $2.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $133.77. The stock had a trading volume of 378,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,913. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70 and a beta of 0.65. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $170.00. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $136.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.20.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $164.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Qualys's quarterly revenue 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 anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, Director Kristi Marie Rogers sold 1,700 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.70, for a total value of $228,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John A. Zangardi sold 3,860 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.82, for a total value of $520,405.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $967,198.68. The trade was a 34.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,223 shares of company stock valued at $7,257,452. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.