Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Trading Down 6% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Qualys shares fell about 6% on Tuesday, with trading volume far below normal, as the stock slipped from a prior close of $156.37 to around $147.
• Analysts have become more cautious on the cybersecurity firm, with several firms cutting price targets; the current consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $141.80.
• Despite the stock drop, Qualys recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates and raising FY2026 and Q2 2026 guidance.

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) shares were down 6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $144.52 and last traded at $147.0460. 57,454 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 756,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on QLYS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Qualys from $135.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Qualys from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.80.

Qualys Stock Down 7.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $121.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.25.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The software maker reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $175.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.63 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 29.41%.Qualys's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.440-7.650 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-1.800 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas Berquist sold 939 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.75, for a total value of $103,994.25. Following the sale, the director owned 6,781 shares in the company, valued at $750,995.75. The trade was a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 2,384 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.18, for a total transaction of $238,829.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 66,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,642,034.18. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 73,846 shares of company stock valued at $9,239,073 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Qualys by 206.2% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the software maker's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Qualys by 204.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 213 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 86.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 284 shares of the software maker's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qualys

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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