Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases 48,462 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 49.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 146,108 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,462 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $24,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Qualys in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 1,666.7% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 545.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on QLYS shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Qualys in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualys has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.50.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS traded up $0.80 on Monday, hitting $143.35. The company had a trading volume of 115,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,331. Qualys, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.60 and a 52-week high of $206.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00 and a beta of 0.49.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.17. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. The business had revenue of $145.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.67 million. Equities research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.56, for a total transaction of $83,504.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 92,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,550,144.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total transaction of $179,736.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,011,910.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.56, for a total transaction of $83,504.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,550,144.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,688 shares of company stock worth $4,024,381 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.