Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock: Insider Bruce Posey Sells 881 Shares

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) insider Bruce Posey sold 881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.52, for a total value of $166,967.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 57,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,955,582.64. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Qualys Trading Up 5.8%

Shares of Qualys stock opened at $208.20 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $183.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.02. The firm has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02 and a beta of 0.60. Qualys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.51 and a 12 month high of $210.10.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.57 million. Qualys had a net margin of 29.38% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $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. Analysts forecast that Qualys, Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on QLYS shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Northland Securities set a $208.00 target price on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Yorkville Ives began coverage on Qualys in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $190.00 target price on Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualys during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $258,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Qualys by 825.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its position in Qualys by 86.1% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Qualys during the third quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 54.5% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,222 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc is a cloud-based cybersecurity company that helps organizations identify, assess and manage security risks across information technology environments. Its platform is designed to provide visibility into assets, vulnerabilities, configurations and compliance requirements across on-premises infrastructure, endpoints, networks, applications and cloud environments.

The company’s offerings include vulnerability management, detection and response, policy compliance, asset inventory, web application security, endpoint security and cloud security capabilities.