Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Upgraded by Wedbush to "Hold" Rating

Key Points

• Wedbush upgraded Qualys to “Hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with an average price target of $173.87.
• Qualys reported quarterly EPS of $1.98, beating estimates of $1.78, while revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $182.18 million.
• Shares opened at $150.28, below the consensus target, and insiders have sold 57,205 shares worth approximately $7.6 million over the past three months.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wedbush to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Qualys from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Northland Securities set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $173.87.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $150.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $166.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.47. Qualys has a 1 year low of $74.51 and a 1 year high of $201.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. Qualys's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 analysts predict that Qualys will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.19, for a total transaction of $79,095.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,210 shares in the company, valued at $1,931,499.90. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sumedh Thakar sold 30,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $4,050,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 196,686 shares in the company, valued at $26,552,610. This represents a 13.23% 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 three months, insiders sold 57,205 shares of company stock worth $7,592,800. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

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

Qualys Company Profile

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

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

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