Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Buys 747 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,827 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the first quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 1,666.7% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 545.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 200 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the first quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded up $3.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $147.47. The stock had a trading volume of 303,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,699. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.77. The stock has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44 and a beta of 0.49. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.07 and a 12 month high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $145.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.67 million. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. Analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on QLYS shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $172.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.35, for a total value of $191,945.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,450,052.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.35, for a total value of $191,945.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,450,052.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total transaction of $179,736.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,011,910.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,027 shares of company stock valued at $4,216,326 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.