Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,139 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 19,613 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.34% of Qualys worth $24,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 218.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 210 shares of the software maker's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 54.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 282 shares of the software maker's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 291 shares of the software maker's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 353.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 422 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on QLYS. Scotiabank started coverage on Qualys in a report on Friday, April 26th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $172.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $154.57.

Qualys Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of QLYS traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $166.00. The stock had a trading volume of 362,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,889. The company has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.00 and a 12-month high of $206.35. The company's 50-day moving average is $166.82 and its 200 day moving average is $175.72.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $144.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.69 million. Qualys had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 49.06%. Research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total transaction of $690,594.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,598,905.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 193,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,743,967.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.62, for a total transaction of $690,594.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,598,905.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,455,489 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.