Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Upgraded at Scotiabank

Key Points

• Scotiabank upgraded Qualys from “sector perform” to “sector outperform” and set a $190 price target, implying about 28% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst views are mixed overall: recent downgrades from some firms offset bullish calls from others, leaving Qualys with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $132.29 average price target.
• Qualys reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.95 versus estimates of $1.81 and revenue of $175.64 million, while also issuing FY2026 and Q2 2026 guidance.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Scotiabank from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $190.00 price objective on the software maker's stock. Scotiabank's target price points to a potential upside of 28.27% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair downgraded Qualys from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Qualys from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Qualys from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualys presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.29.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS opened at $148.12 on Monday. Qualys has a twelve month low of $74.51 and a twelve month high of $155.47. The stock's 50 day moving average is $106.09 and its 200-day moving average is $108.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 2,384 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.18, for a total value of $238,829.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,642,034.18. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $4,050,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 196,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,552,610. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 71,881 shares of company stock worth $8,945,654 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

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

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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