Chiron Investment Management LLC Invests $1.41 Million in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Chiron Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,061 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 88.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 333 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $91,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $124.10 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.21. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $174.20. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 0.71.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.36.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.87, for a total value of $169,573.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,203,753.80. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,654,266. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.