Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Qualys from “Buy” to “Hold.” The broader analyst consensus is also “Hold,” with an average price target of $183.62.
• Qualys reported quarterly EPS of $1.98, exceeding the $1.78 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $182.18 million, up 11.1% year over year and above expectations.
• Shares opened at $224.12, near their 12-month high of $235.55. Insiders have sold 9,013 shares worth about $1.64 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 99.31% of the stock.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on QLYS. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $190.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Qualys from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $183.62.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $224.12 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $188.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.95. Qualys has a 12-month low of $74.51 and a 12-month high of $235.55. The firm has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.78 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.57 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 29.38%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.36, for a total transaction of $609,152.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 177,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,719,989.68. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Bruce Posey sold 881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.52, for a total transaction of $166,967.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 57,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,955,582.64. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,013 shares of company stock valued at $1,635,261. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Qualys by 206.2% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Qualys in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc is a cloud-based cybersecurity company that helps organizations identify, assess and manage security risks across information technology environments. Its platform is designed to provide visibility into assets, vulnerabilities, configurations and compliance requirements across on-premises infrastructure, endpoints, networks, applications and cloud environments.

The company's offerings include vulnerability management, detection and response, policy compliance, asset inventory, web application security, endpoint security and cloud security capabilities.

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