Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Trading Up 7.8% – Time to Buy?

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) shares traded up 7.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $162.92 and last traded at $162.0430. 108,199 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 752,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Qualys from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Northland Securities set a $208.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $190.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.87.

Qualys Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $166.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.73.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.04, for a total value of $248,996.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 75,743 shares in the company, valued at $11,591,708.72. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 30,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $4,050,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 196,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,552,610. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 57,205 shares of company stock valued at $7,592,800. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Qualys by 206.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qualys

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

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