Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Qualys, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from seventeen research firms, with two analysts rating the stock as a sell and only one analyst issuing a strong buy recommendation.
• The average 12-month price target for Qualys by brokerages is $141.00, reflecting varied outlooks with price objectives raised by several analysts recently.
• In its latest earnings report, Qualys reported $1.68 EPS, beating the consensus estimate, and projected FY 2025 guidance of 6.2 to 6.5 EPS.

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.00.

QLYS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Qualys from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised Qualys to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th.

Qualys Trading Up 1.0%

QLYS opened at $136.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $133.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.31. Qualys has a 12-month low of $112.61 and a 12-month high of $170.00.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.21. Qualys had a net margin of 29.04% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The business had revenue of $164.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business's quarterly 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 forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, Director John A. Zangardi sold 3,860 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.82, for a total value of $520,405.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,174 shares in the company, valued at $967,198.68. This trade represents a 34.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $134,640.68. Following the sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,565 shares of company stock worth $7,102,374. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of 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. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 82.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 484 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Qualys Company Profile

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.

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