Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Hits New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Qualys shares reached a new 52-week high of $204.41, with the stock last trading near $201.58. Its market capitalization is approximately $6.85 billion.
• Analysts remain cautious overall, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.87, despite some firms raising targets as high as $220.
• Qualys exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.98 in EPS versus $1.78 expected and $182.18 million in revenue, up 11.1% year over year. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company, while insiders sold $1.33 million of stock during the last quarter.

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $204.41 and last traded at $201.5790, with a volume of 36099 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $198.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on QLYS. Wedbush downgraded Qualys from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Qualys from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Qualys from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $160.00 price objective on Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Qualys from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $173.87.

Qualys Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $176.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25 and a beta of 0.60.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.57 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 29.38%.Qualys's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other news, CEO Sumedh Thakar sold 3,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.05, for a total transaction of $544,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 180,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,666,476.90. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.19, for a total transaction of $79,095.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,210 shares in the company, valued at $1,931,499.90. This trade represents a 3.93% 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 a total of 7,941 shares of company stock worth $1,326,739 over the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $792,316,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Qualys in the second quarter worth $197,624,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Qualys by 127.0% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 832,796 shares of the software maker's stock worth $73,161,000 after purchasing an additional 465,952 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 402.2% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 363,593 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $48,322,000 after purchasing an additional 291,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,044,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc provides cloud-based information technology, security and compliance solutions for organizations worldwide. Its platform is designed to help businesses identify, assess and manage security vulnerabilities across their networks, endpoints, cloud environments and web applications.

The company's offerings include vulnerability management, asset inventory, security and compliance assessment, web application security, endpoint detection and response, and cloud security capabilities.

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