Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Insider Selling

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) shares reached a new 52-week low on Saturday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $109.72 and last traded at $110.80, with a volume of 2105687 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $127.81.

Specifically, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 6,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total transaction of $873,399.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,489 shares in the company, valued at $11,367,296.94. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 3,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.63, for a total transaction of $463,040.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,001,763.07. This represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded Qualys from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Qualys from $117.00 to $113.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.46.

Qualys News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS $1.87 vs. $1.78 est; revenue $175.3M vs. $173.2M and revenue +10.1% YoY, showing steady growth and margin expansion. Qualys Q4 Earnings Surpass Expectations, Revenues Increase Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised forward guidance: FY2026 EPS 7.170–7.450 (vs. consensus ~6.59) and Q1 EPS 1.760–1.830 (vs. ~1.57), which signals confidence in underlying business momentum. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $200M increase to the share repurchase program — a capital return that reduces float and supports EPS. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Wedbush reaffirmed an Outperform rating and $155 price target, implying substantial upside versus current levels. Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform, $155 PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and presentation emphasize strategic initiatives, stronger channel sales and expanding margins — useful for longer-term thesis but less immediately market-moving than headline beats/guidance. Qualys Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and upgraded guidance, the stock is down today on heavy volume and sits below its 50- and 200-day moving averages — suggesting short-term profit-taking, broader sector pressure or a market re-rating. (Trading stats and moving averages from market data released with the earnings updates.)

Qualys Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 0.53.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.09. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.56% and a net margin of 29.64%.The firm had revenue of $175.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Qualys by 451.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 270 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 86.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 284 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Qualys by 127.0% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 345 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 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.