Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Rating Raised to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Qualys from “Hold” to “Buy.” However, the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with an average price target of $183.62.
• Qualys shares opened at $216.70, near their 52-week high of $219.03, and were supported by quarterly results that exceeded expectations: EPS of $1.98 versus $1.78 expected and revenue growth of 11.1% year over year.
• Insiders sold 10,640 shares worth approximately $1.88 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own a substantial 99.31% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

QLYS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $190.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $160.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Qualys from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Qualys from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $183.62.

Qualys Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $216.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.49 and a beta of 0.60. Qualys has a twelve month low of $74.51 and a twelve month high of $219.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $184.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.54.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 29.38% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.57 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, insider Bruce Posey sold 881 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.52, for a total transaction of $166,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, 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 can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 3,200 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.05, for a total transaction of $544,160.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 180,338 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,666,476.90. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 10,640 shares of company stock worth $1,884,257 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Qualys by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,295 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $4,155,000 after purchasing an additional 10,569 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Qualys by 306.4% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 36,253 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,185,000 after buying an additional 27,333 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Qualys by 63.5% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 17,251 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,372,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Park State Asset Management bought a new position in Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth $5,942,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth $2,749,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Qualys Company Profile

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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