Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $142.1429.

QLYS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Qualys from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Northland Securities set a $162.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $151.75 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $136.64 and a 200 day moving average of $136.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41 and a beta of 0.55. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $155.47.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The software maker reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $169.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.30 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.40% and a net margin of 28.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.930-7.000 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.730-1.800 EPS. Analysts forecast that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 70,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,616,400. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 7,506 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.59, for a total transaction of $1,100,304.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 108,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,842,567.66. This trade represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 32,635 shares of company stock worth $4,486,535 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Qualys by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 382,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $54,591,000 after purchasing an additional 10,359 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 100.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 136,835 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $19,535,000 after purchasing an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 9.3% during the second quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 545,380 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $77,918,000 after buying an additional 46,296 shares in the last quarter. Willis Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Qualys by 68.8% in the second quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 23,611 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,373,000 after buying an additional 9,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Qualys in the second quarter valued at approximately $300,000. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.