Nebula Research & Development LLC Makes New Investment in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,590 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,906,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on QLYS shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Qualys from $162.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.86, for a total transaction of $63,644.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 64,513 shares in the company, valued at $7,603,502.18. The trade was a 0.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.81, for a total value of $866,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,496,012.53. The trade was a 2.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,138 shares of company stock valued at $3,519,970. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $126.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26 and a beta of 0.71. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $173.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $127.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.76.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 38.52%. On average, equities analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qualys Company 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.