Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Qualys has been downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Several brokerages have also adjusted their ratings for Qualys, with two analysts assigning a "buy" rating, while the majority maintain a "hold" rating.
• In the latest earnings report, Qualys reported an EPS of $1.68, beating analyst expectations, with revenue up 10.3% year-over-year.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on QLYS. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualys has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Qualys Trading Down 1.5%

Qualys stock opened at $127.66 on Monday. Qualys has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $170.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.53.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.68 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $164.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. Qualys's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.200-6.5 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.6 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.40, for a total transaction of $1,176,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 215,962 shares in the company, valued at $29,889,140.80. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristi Marie Rogers sold 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.70, for a total transaction of $228,990.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,596 shares in the company, valued at $1,157,881.20. This represents a 16.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,565 shares of company stock worth $5,296,373 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Qualys by 4.6% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,038 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Qualys by 2.4% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 4,006 shares of the software maker's stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 4.3% in the second quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the software maker's stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Cim LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 8,561 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised 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 worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

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.

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