Aurora Investment Counsel Purchases New Position in Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Key Points

• Aurora Investment Counsel acquired 18,653 Qualys shares worth approximately $2.6 million during the second quarter, making QLYS 1.3% of its portfolio and its 15th-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 99.31% of Qualys.
• Qualys exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.98 in earnings per share versus the $1.78 consensus estimate and revenue of $182.18 million, up 11.1% year over year. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $7.74–$7.88.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with Qualys holding an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.53. Meanwhile, insiders sold 71,979 shares worth about $9.2 million over the past 90 days.

Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 18,653 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,565,000. Qualys comprises approximately 1.3% of Aurora Investment Counsel's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Aurora Investment Counsel owned 0.05% of Qualys at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 204.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 213 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 206.2% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Qualys by 37,400.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 375 shares of the software maker's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $4,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 196,686 shares in the company, valued at $26,552,610. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.04, for a total transaction of $248,996.08. Following the transaction, 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. 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 71,979 shares of company stock worth $9,217,993 over the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualys Stock Down 0.7%

Qualys stock opened at $186.68 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $148.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.16. The stock has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30 and a beta of 0.60. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.51 and a 12 month high of $201.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $178.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. 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. On average, analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QLYS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Qualys from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Qualys from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Qualys from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Qualys from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.53.

Qualys Profile

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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