Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52-week low of $80.08 (last $80.59) on heavy volume, down roughly 9.1%; the 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages are $100.21 and $123.75 respectively.
• Qualys beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $1.87 vs. $1.78 and revenue of $175.28M (+10.1% y/y), and issued Q1 2026 EPS guidance of 1.760–1.830 and FY2026 guidance of 7.170–7.450.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed — the consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $140.46 — while insiders have been net sellers (16,479 shares in 90 days) even as institutional ownership sits near 99.31%.

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $80.08 and last traded at $80.5910, with a volume of 202649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $117.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $117.00 to $113.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have 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 $140.46.

Qualys Stock Down 9.1%

The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.62. The business's fifty day moving average is $100.21 and its 200-day moving average is $123.75.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. Qualys had a net margin of 29.64% and a return on equity of 37.65%. The company had revenue of $175.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. Analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.76, for a total transaction of $668,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 247,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,145,728. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 6,799 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total transaction of $873,399.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 88,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,367,296.94. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,479 shares of company stock worth $2,167,471. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Qualys during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,820,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,591,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Qualys during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,854,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Qualys by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,100 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $144,133,000 after buying an additional 323,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 291,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

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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