JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $117.00 to $113.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the software maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 1.99% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Qualys from $139.00 to $135.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.46.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS opened at $110.80 on Friday. Qualys has a 1-year low of $109.72 and a 1-year high of $155.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $137.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.06.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued 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 company had revenue of $175.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.18 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.56% and a net margin of 29.64%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.76, for a total value of $668,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 247,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,145,728. This represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,101 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.34, for a total value of $145,706.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 68,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,078,259.32. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 44,427 shares of company stock worth $6,217,050 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 3,948.0% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,024 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys during the second quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Qualys by 57.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 5,749 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Qualys by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,718 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,246,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in shares of Qualys by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 14,400 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Qualys

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS $1.87 vs. $1.78 est; revenue $175.3M vs. $173.2M and revenue +10.1% YoY, showing steady growth and margin expansion. Qualys Q4 Earnings Surpass Expectations, Revenues Increase Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised forward guidance: FY2026 EPS 7.170–7.450 (vs. consensus ~6.59) and Q1 EPS 1.760–1.830 (vs. ~1.57), which signals confidence in underlying business momentum. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $200M increase to the share repurchase program — a capital return that reduces float and supports EPS. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Wedbush reaffirmed an Outperform rating and $155 price target, implying substantial upside versus current levels. Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform, $155 PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and presentation emphasize strategic initiatives, stronger channel sales and expanding margins — useful for longer-term thesis but less immediately market-moving than headline beats/guidance. Qualys Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and upgraded guidance, the stock is down today on heavy volume and sits below its 50- and 200-day moving averages — suggesting short-term profit-taking, broader sector pressure or a market re-rating. (Trading stats and moving averages from market data released with the earnings updates.)

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.