Scotiabank Increases Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Price Target to $220.00

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its target price hoisted by Scotiabank from $190.00 to $220.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the software maker’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.03% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on QLYS. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Qualys from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial set a $185.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Qualys from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.87.

Qualys Trading Up 14.8%

NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $23.77 on Wednesday, hitting $184.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 843,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,222. Qualys has a one year low of $74.51 and a one year high of $201.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.17 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $131.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.99.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.57 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 29.41%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.17, for a total transaction of $162,976.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,335,245.87. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 2,384 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.18, for a total transaction of $238,829.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 66,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,642,034.18. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 76,855 shares of company stock worth $9,706,670 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Qualys by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,985 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Qualys by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,027 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $665,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Qualys by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,038 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Qualys by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,178 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Qualys News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations. Qualys reported earnings of $1.98 per share, above the $1.78 analyst consensus and up from $1.68 a year earlier. Revenue increased 11.1% year over year to $182.18 million, exceeding estimates of $178.57 million. Qualys Tops Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year guidance was raised substantially. Qualys now expects 2026 revenue of $732 million to $738 million, compared with its prior range of $721 million to $727 million. Full-year EPS guidance of $7.74 to $7.88 is also above the $7.16 consensus estimate. Third-quarter revenue and EPS forecasts likewise topped Wall Street expectations. Qualys Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability and demand trends remain supportive. Adjusted EBITDA reached $83.8 million. Management highlighted AI-related security products, Risk Operations Center adoption, federal business momentum, partner execution and early QFlex engagement as growth opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: New vulnerability-detection technology could support future sales. Qualys launched InstaScan, designed to identify newly disclosed vulnerabilities rapidly using existing asset telemetry and AI-driven correlation. Qualys Launches InstaScan
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor outreach is scheduled. Qualys management will participate in a fireside chat and hold one-on-one meetings at Canaccord Genuity’s 46th Annual Growth Conference. The event may provide additional visibility but does not immediately change financial forecasts. Qualys to Speak at Upcoming Investor Conference
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sale provides a modest counterpoint. CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares for approximately $249,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale represented about 2.1% of her holdings and is less concerning than an unexpected discretionary sale, but continued insider selling may temper sentiment.

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.