Virtu Financial LLC Takes $510,000 Position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 3,637 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Qualys by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,540 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $64,016,000 after buying an additional 3,848 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Qualys by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,833 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Qualys by 6.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,320 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $8,134,000 after acquiring an additional 4,040 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,937,000. Finally, Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $376,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.38, for a total transaction of $67,795.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,416,557.14. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,595 shares of company stock worth $3,691,922 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Qualys Stock Performance

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $129.73 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $135.81 and its 200 day moving average is $136.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.17 and a fifty-two week high of $174.20.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on QLYS shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned 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 target price of $146.14.

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.