Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Gets Price Target Bump from Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler raised its Qualys price target from $175 to $185 but kept a neutral rating; the new target implies 8.62% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly neutral: MarketBeat reports an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $189.87.
• Qualys beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 10.7% year over year, but shares fell after its revenue outlook disappointed investors.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $175.00 to $185.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the software maker's stock. Piper Sandler's price target indicates a potential downside of 8.62% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Qualys from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Northland Securities set a $208.00 target price on 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 report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Qualys from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $189.87.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $202.46 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $191.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.06. Qualys has a 1 year low of $74.51 and a 1 year high of $235.54. The company has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03 and a beta of 0.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The software maker reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.16. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 29.38%. The company had revenue of $188.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.86 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Qualys will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 881 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 1.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sumedh Thakar sold 3,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.05, for a total value of $544,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 180,338 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,666,476.90. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,672 shares of company stock worth $2,192,747. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Qualys by 20.1% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 495 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 4.9% in the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,114 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in Qualys by 5.1% during the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,016 shares of the software maker's stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Qualys by 2.0% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,245 shares of the software maker's stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 1.7% during the third quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 6,396 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Qualys

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 revenue rose 10.7% year over year to $188.05 million, ahead of estimates, while adjusted EPS of $2.12 beat the $1.96 consensus. Qualys also raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $736.9–$738.9 million and adjusted EPS outlook to $8.07–$8.14. Article: Qualys Q3 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Qualys expanded its global mROC alliance with partners covering mobile, operational technology/IoT, and identity security. The broader ecosystem could strengthen its risk-management offerings, though the impact is likely longer term. Article: Qualys Expands Global mROC Alliance
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat and raised guidance, shares declined after the company’s revenue outlook failed to satisfy investor expectations. Qualys forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $191–$193 million, implying 9%–10% growth; the market reaction suggests investors wanted a stronger growth outlook. Article: Qualys Earnings Beat. Cybersecurity Stock Falls On Revenue Outlook.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc provides cloud-based security and compliance software to help organizations identify and manage cybersecurity risks. Its platform brings together information about an organization's IT assets and security posture to support vulnerability management, threat detection, and compliance activities.

Qualys offers products and services for vulnerability assessment and remediation, cloud security, endpoint protection, web application security, and policy compliance. Its solutions are designed to help customers monitor systems across cloud environments, on-premises infrastructure, and other connected assets.

Founded in 1999, Qualys is headquartered in Foster City, California, and serves customers around the world.

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