Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Sells 271,053 Shares of Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group cut its Qualys stake by 89%, selling 271,053 shares and retaining 33,624 shares worth approximately $4.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.31% of QLYS.
• Qualys reported quarterly EPS of $1.98, surpassing the $1.78 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $182.18 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly neutral, with Qualys carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $170.53; the stock recently opened at $177.01.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 89.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,624 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 271,053 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned about 0.10% of Qualys worth $4,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $792,316,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Qualys in the second quarter worth $197,624,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Qualys by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,372,587 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $182,417,000 after buying an additional 266,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,256,002 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $168,380,000 after buying an additional 48,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,100 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $144,133,000 after buying an additional 323,324 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $155,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 63,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,853,505. This trade represents a 1.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.04, for a total transaction of $248,996.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 75,743 shares in the company, valued at $11,591,708.72. This represents a 2.10% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 58,614 shares of company stock worth $7,747,968. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on QLYS shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush dropped their price target on Qualys from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.53.

Qualys Price Performance

QLYS stock opened at $177.01 on Wednesday. Qualys, Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.51 and a 1-year high of $201.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $160.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62 and a beta of 0.62.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 29.38%.The company had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. Qualys's revenue 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, analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc NASDAQ: QLYS is a leading provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions designed to help organizations streamline their IT security programs. Operating on a unified, modular platform, Qualys offers continuous visibility into global IT assets through a combination of lightweight cloud agents and on-premises scanner appliances. The platform supports an array of security and compliance use cases, enabling real-time detection of vulnerabilities, policy violations and misconfigurations across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments.

The company's flagship Qualys Cloud Platform delivers a suite of integrated applications, including vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR), policy compliance, web application scanning, file integrity monitoring, asset inventory and container security.

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