Kestra Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 79.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,919 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,733 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Qualys by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Qualys by 56.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 53.6% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total value of $209,616.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,885,415.24. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,288 shares of company stock worth $5,204,906. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $147.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.31. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.17 and a 1-year high of $174.31.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on QLYS shares. Northland Securities reaffirmed 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.57.

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.