Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $207.70 and last traded at $207.1060, with a volume of 377,310 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $196.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on QLYS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush cut shares of Qualys from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.62.

Qualys Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.54. The company has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.49 and a beta of 0.60.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 29.38%. The business had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Research analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.04, for a total transaction of $248,996.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 75,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,591,708.72. This trade represents a 2.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sumedh Thakar sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.05, for a total transaction of $544,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 180,338 shares in the company, valued at $30,666,476.90. This trade represents a 1.74% 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 have sold a total of 10,640 shares of company stock worth $1,884,257 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Qualys by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,295 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,155,000 after buying an additional 10,569 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 306.4% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 36,253 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,185,000 after acquiring an additional 27,333 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Qualys by 63.5% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 17,251 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. Park State Asset Management purchased a new stake in Qualys during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,942,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in Qualys in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,749,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualys Company Profile

Qualys, Inc is a cloud-based cybersecurity company that helps organizations identify, assess and manage security risks across information technology environments. Its platform is designed to provide visibility into assets, vulnerabilities, configurations and compliance requirements across on-premises infrastructure, endpoints, networks, applications and cloud environments.

The company’s offerings include vulnerability management, detection and response, policy compliance, asset inventory, web application security, endpoint security and cloud security capabilities.