HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,749 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 80 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Qualys by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,640 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,333,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 23,323 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,270,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 56.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total transaction of $995,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total value of $67,795.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 65,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,416,557.14. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,595 shares of company stock valued at $3,691,922. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $130.13 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $174.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.24. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. Equities research analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.14.

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.