Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 1,338.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,693 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,679 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Qualys were worth $11,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 206.2% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Qualys in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Qualys by 127.0% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 345 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualys News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue beat estimates. Qualys reported adjusted EPS of $1.98, above the $1.78 consensus estimate and up from $1.68 a year earlier. Revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $182.18 million, exceeding the $178.57 million analyst estimate. Qualys Tops Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its full-year outlook. Qualys now expects 2026 revenue of $732 million to $738 million, up from $721 million to $727 million previously, with EPS guidance of $7.74 to $7.88 versus the $7.16 analyst consensus. Third-quarter revenue and EPS guidance also came in above expectations. Qualys Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability and growth catalysts strengthened. Adjusted EBITDA reached $83.8 million, while management cited AI-powered security offerings, Risk Operations Center adoption, federal demand, partner execution and early QFlex engagement as potential growth drivers.
• Positive Sentiment: New AI-enabled security capabilities may support future demand. Qualys launched InstaScan, which uses existing asset telemetry and AI-driven correlation to identify newly disclosed vulnerabilities more quickly, enhancing its Enterprise TruRisk Management platform. Qualys Launches InstaScan

Qualys Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of QLYS stock opened at $161.06 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.99. Qualys, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.51 and a 52 week high of $167.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92 and a beta of 0.60.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 29.41%.The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on QLYS. 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 report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. William Blair cut Qualys from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wedbush dropped their price target on Qualys from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Qualys from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 2,384 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,642,034.18. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $4,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 196,686 shares in the company, valued at $26,552,610. This represents a 13.23% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,855 shares of company stock worth $9,706,670. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Qualys 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.