Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) shares hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $83.38 and last traded at $83.94, with a volume of 81405 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Qualys from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $150.00 price objective on Qualys in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Qualys from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.46.

Qualys Stock Down 4.9%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 0.62.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $175.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.18 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.64% and a return on equity of 37.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.76, for a total value of $668,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 247,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,145,728. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.34, for a total value of $145,706.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 68,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,078,259.32. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,232 shares of company stock worth $2,789,020. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 204.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 213 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualys during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Qualys by 451.0% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 270 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Qualys by 86.8% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 284 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys Company 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.