Granahan Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Key Points

• Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Qualys, Inc. by 36.0%, acquiring an additional 17,122 shares, and now owns a total of 64,671 shares valued at approximately $8.14 million.
• In a recent quarter, corporate insiders sold a total of 51,378 shares of Qualys stock, worth over $7.1 million, with the CEO selling 12,000 shares worth about $1.79 million.
• Qualys reported $1.68 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, with a revenue increase of 10.3% year-over-year.

Granahan Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) by 36.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,671 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 17,122 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned 0.18% of Qualys worth $8,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Qualys by 82.7% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 369 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 52.4% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 436 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Qualys by 27.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 500 shares of the software maker's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Qualys by 154.9% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 576 shares of the software maker's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Qualys by 96.4% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 601 shares of the software maker's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.95, for a total value of $1,104,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 207,920 shares in the company, valued at $27,019,204. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John A. Zangardi sold 3,103 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.94, for a total transaction of $418,718.82. Following the sale, the director owned 4,071 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $549,340.74. The trade was a 43.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,222 shares of company stock valued at $7,252,957 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS stock traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $132.05. 81,255 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 333,607. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $136.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36 and a beta of 0.65. Qualys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $170.00.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.19% and a net margin of 29.04%.The firm had revenue of $164.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.200-6.5 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.6 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised Qualys to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.