Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Qualys, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with 14 out of 18 analysts recommending this stance, while two rated it as a sell and two as a buy.
• The average 12-month price target for Qualys is approximately $140.62, with recent adjustments from Morgan Stanley and Scotiabank raising their targets to between $97.00 and $150.00.
• Qualys reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.68, surpassing analyst expectations and indicating a year-over-year revenue growth of 10.3%.

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.6154.

QLYS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Qualys from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $131.84 on Wednesday. Qualys has a 1 year low of $112.61 and a 1 year high of $170.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $132.32 and a 200 day moving average of $133.62.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.21. Qualys had a net margin of 29.04% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The company had revenue of $164.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.25 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Qualys'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. Research analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, Director John A. Zangardi sold 3,860 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.82, for a total value of $520,405.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $967,198.68. The trade was a 34.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.26, for a total transaction of $134,640.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 94,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,494,337.68. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,364 shares of company stock valued at $5,162,899 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 4.6% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,038 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 2.4% during the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 4,006 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 4.3% during the second quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC grew its position in Qualys by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 8,561 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Qualys by 1.2% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,776 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.