Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $2.76 Million in Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group initiated a $2.76 million position in Qualys during the second quarter, buying 20,100 shares and owning approximately 0.06% of the company. Institutional investors collectively hold 99.31% of Qualys stock.
• Qualys reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.98 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.
• Qualys shares opened at $187.05, near their 52-week high of $201.54, while the analyst consensus remains “Hold” with a target price of $170.53. Insiders sold 72,845 shares worth $9.38 million during the latest quarter.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,100 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,764,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.06% of Qualys as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Qualys during the second quarter worth about $254,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in Qualys in the second quarter valued at about $6,265,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the second quarter worth about $21,852,000. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the second quarter worth about $980,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 196,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,552,610. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Thomas Berquist sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.75, for a total transaction of $103,994.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $750,995.75. The trade was a 12.16% 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. Insiders sold 72,845 shares of company stock valued at $9,377,536 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $187.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's 50-day moving average is $157.90 and its 200-day moving average is $117.91. Qualys, Inc. has a one year low of $74.51 and a one year high of $201.54.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $178.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. Qualys's quarterly 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 analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QLYS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Qualys from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Qualys from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $190.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Qualys from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.53.

Qualys Company 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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