Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Invests $39,000 in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 280 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in QLYS. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Qualys by 60.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,580 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 2,491 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Qualys by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,559 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Qualys during the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Qualys by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,438 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Qualys stock opened at $147.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.31. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $174.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76 and a beta of 0.56.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced 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 net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 39.64%. As a group, analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 8,555 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.62, for a total value of $1,322,774.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,900,627.84. The trade was a 11.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,635 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.64, for a total transaction of $226,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 112,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,530,036.88. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,288 shares of company stock valued at $5,204,906. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on QLYS. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.57.

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.