First Western Trust Bank Makes New $340,000 Investment in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,734 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of QLYS. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Qualys by 172.3% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 193,056 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $37,893,000 after buying an additional 122,168 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 201,932.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 117,179 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $23,000,000 after purchasing an additional 117,121 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Qualys by 46.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 250,661 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $38,238,000 after purchasing an additional 80,079 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Qualys in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,400,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its stake in Qualys by 5.0% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,137,107 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $173,466,000 after buying an additional 54,219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 193,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,743,967.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 4,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.96, for a total value of $661,414.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,743,967.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.76, for a total transaction of $119,121.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,523,615.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,419,842. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualys Trading Up 1.4 %

QLYS traded up $2.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $151.87. 550,545 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 472,215. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $166.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 37.59 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $113.00 and a one year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.26. The company 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Qualys from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Qualys in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.23.

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.