Janus Henderson Group PLC Grows Stock Position in Qualys, Inc. $QLYS

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 126,189 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,474 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $11,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 206.2% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Qualys in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Qualys by 204.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 213 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Qualys by 127.0% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 345 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $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.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.19, for a total transaction of $79,095.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,931,499.90. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.17, for a total transaction of $139,505.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 62,689 shares in the company, valued at $9,915,519.13. This represents a 1.39% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 76,855 shares of company stock worth $9,706,670. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Key Qualys News

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue beat estimates. Qualys reported adjusted EPS of $1.98, above the $1.78 consensus estimate and up from $1.68 a year earlier. Revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $182.18 million, exceeding the $178.57 million analyst estimate. Qualys Tops Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its full-year outlook. Qualys now expects 2026 revenue of $732 million to $738 million, up from $721 million to $727 million previously, with EPS guidance of $7.74 to $7.88 versus the $7.16 analyst consensus. Third-quarter revenue and EPS guidance also came in above expectations. Qualys Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability and growth catalysts strengthened. Adjusted EBITDA reached $83.8 million, while management cited AI-powered security offerings, Risk Operations Center adoption, federal demand, partner execution and early QFlex engagement as potential growth drivers.
• Positive Sentiment: New AI-enabled security capabilities may support future demand. Qualys launched InstaScan, which uses existing asset telemetry and AI-driven correlation to identify newly disclosed vulnerabilities more quickly, enhancing its Enterprise TruRisk Management platform. Qualys Launches InstaScan

Qualys Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $161.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92 and a beta of 0.60. Qualys, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.51 and a 52 week high of $167.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.99.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 29.41%.The firm had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on QLYS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualys has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.53.

About Qualys

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.