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

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $104.56 and last traded at $104.79, with a volume of 895994 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $110.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on QLYS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $150.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Qualys from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Berenberg Bank began coverage on Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price objective on Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.46.

Qualys Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.08 and a 200 day moving average of $134.27.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.65% and a net margin of 29.64%.The business had revenue of $175.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. Research analysts anticipate that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.76, for a total transaction of $668,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 247,800 shares in the company, valued at $33,145,728. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 6,799 shares of Qualys 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 approximately $11,367,296.94. This trade represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,227 shares of company stock worth $5,875,962. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 204.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 213 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Qualys by 451.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 270 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Qualys by 86.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 284 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.