Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wedbush

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wedbush to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on QLYS. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Qualys from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $160.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.87.

Qualys Stock Down 7.0%

QLYS opened at $150.28 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $166.35 and a 200-day moving average of $122.47. Qualys has a 12-month low of $74.51 and a 12-month high of $201.54. The stock has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00 and a beta of 0.62.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.57 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.38% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. 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, analysts expect that Qualys will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 500 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.19, for a total transaction of $79,095.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,210 shares in the company, valued at $1,931,499.90. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 worth $7,592,800. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

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

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.