Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $101.61 and last traded at $104.39, with a volume of 632285 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $103.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $150.00 price objective on Qualys in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.46.

Qualys Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 0.53.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 37.65% and a net margin of 29.64%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. 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 forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In related news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.12, for a total transaction of $1,250,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 252,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,191,936. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 3,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.99, for a total transaction of $449,211.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 71,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,478,578.24. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,227 shares of company stock valued at $5,875,962. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Qualys by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,148 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter valued at about $78,591,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,414 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 2,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,563 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.