Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Qualys, with 12 of 17 covering brokers rating the stock Hold. The average 12-month price target is $173.87, below its reported opening price of $199.93.
• Qualys reported quarterly adjusted EPS of $1.98, exceeding estimates of $1.78, while revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $182.18 million. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $7.74–$7.88.
• Institutional investors own 99.31% of Qualys shares, while insiders sold 7,941 shares worth approximately $1.33 million over the past quarter, primarily through pre-arranged trading plans.

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $173.87.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Qualys from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Northland Securities set a $208.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th.

Qualys Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $199.93 on Wednesday. Qualys has a twelve month low of $74.51 and a twelve month high of $204.41. The company has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59 and a beta of 0.60. The business's fifty day moving average is $177.59 and its 200 day moving average is $133.24.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 29.38%.The business had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The business'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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.04, for a total value of $248,996.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 75,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,591,708.72. The trade was a 2.10% 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, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.49, for a total value of $155,438.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 58,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,533,909.12. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,941 shares of company stock worth $1,326,739. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Qualys by 0.8% during the second quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 13,501 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Qualys by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 472 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 2.2% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 7,296 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 14.9% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 206.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc provides cloud-based information technology, security and compliance solutions for organizations worldwide. Its platform is designed to help businesses identify, assess and manage security vulnerabilities across their networks, endpoints, cloud environments and web applications.

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

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