Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Now Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Wall Street analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Qualys, with 11 holds, four buys, two strong buys and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $183.62, below the stock’s reported $224.12 opening price.
• Qualys exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.98 EPS versus the $1.78 consensus and revenue of $182.18 million, up 11.1% year over year. The company reported a 29.38% net margin and 37.52% return on equity.
• Institutional investors own 99.31% of Qualys, while insiders sold 10,640 shares worth about $1.88 million in the last quarter, including sales by the CEO and CFO under pre-arranged trading plans.

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $183.62.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Northland Securities set a $208.00 target price on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Qualys from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS opened at $224.12 on Friday. Qualys has a 12-month low of $74.51 and a 12-month high of $235.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.78 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $188.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.95.

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 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 analysts' expectations of $178.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. Qualys'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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.04, for a total value of $248,996.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 75,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,591,708.72. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 Qualys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.36, for a total transaction of $609,152.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 177,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,719,989.68. This trade represents a 1.77% 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 sold a total of 10,640 shares of company stock valued at $1,884,257 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bridge City Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 21.2% during the third quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 20,851 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Qualys in the third quarter valued at about $3,428,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Qualys by 2.0% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,245 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in Qualys by 47.6% in the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 8,057 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599 shares during the period. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys in the third quarter worth about $262,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

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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