Qualys CEO Sumedh S Thakar Sells 8,500 Shares for Approximately $1.2 Million

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

QLYS-0.43%

Source: Fool

Updated: Dec 23 2025

0mins

Source: Fool

Transaction Overview: Qualys CEO Sumedh S Thakar sold 8,500 shares on November 14, 2025, for approximately $1.2 million, indicating a focus on liquidity amid market conditions.
Ownership Change: Post-transaction, Thakar's direct holdings decreased to 254,800 shares valued at about $36.6 million, representing a 3.23% reduction, reflecting strategic adjustments in response to market volatility.
Option Exercise: The sale was linked to the exercise of 6,500 stock options, suggesting that Thakar's actions were primarily liquidity-driven rather than indicative of a long-term shift in holdings, showcasing confidence in the company's future.
Market Performance: Despite a 3.9% decline in Qualys' stock over the past year, Thakar's decision to lock in gains at the current price of $142.68, following a strong earnings report, demonstrates his keen awareness of market dynamics.

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QLYS

$132.12+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on QLYS

Wall Street analysts forecast QLYS stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for QLYS is 141.15 USD with a low forecast of 117.00 USD and a high forecast of 165.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

16 Analyst Rating

3 Buy

11 Hold

2 Sell

Hold

Current: 132.690

Low

117.00

Averages

141.15

High

165.00

Current: 132.690

Low

117.00

Averages

141.15

High

165.00

Morgan Stanley

Underweight

maintain

$104 -> $117

2025-12-18

Reason

Morgan Stanley

Price Target

$104 -> $117

AI Analysis

2025-12-18

maintain

Underweight

Reason

Morgan Stanley raised the firm's price target on Qualys to $117 from $104 and keeps an Underweight rating on the shares. Cybersecurity names were largely flat on the year, with platforms being up about 30%, on average, and the rest of the space being down about 12%, the analyst tells investors. The firm continues to see platforms as the "easiest way to play cyber" and expects them to continue to outperform, but believes other opportunities remain, the analyst tells investors in a year-ahead note for the group.

Berenberg

Hold

initiated

$165

2025-11-18

Reason

Berenberg

Price Target

$165

2025-11-18

initiated

Hold

Reason

Berenberg initiated coverage of Qualys with a Hold rating and $165 price target. The firm launched coverage of the cybersecurity group, naming Okta, SailPoint, Rubrik and SentinelOne top picks. CrowdStrike "sits at the top of the revenue duration curve," but the market is already pricing this into the shares, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Berenberg views both SentinelOne and Okta as "misunderstood stories where the market is mispricing their duration and awaiting better execution that should drive a re-rating." SailPoint is shifting to a software-as-a-service model without a premium multiple while Rubrik has strong data-driven upsell momentum and is cleanest way to play the data explosion and artificial intelliotence theme, contends Berenberg.

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About QLYS

Qualys, Inc. is a provider of a cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security and compliance solutions. The Company’s integrated suite of IT, security and compliance solutions delivered on Qualys' Enterprise TruRisk Platform enables its customers to identify and manage their IT and operational technology (OT) assets, collect, and analyze large amounts of IT security data, recommend, and implement remediation actions and verify the implementation of such actions. The Company provides its solutions through a software-as-a-service model, primarily with renewable annual subscriptions. Its cloud platform offers an integrated suite of solutions that automates the lifecycle of asset discovery and management, security and compliance assessments, and remediation for an organization’s IT infrastructure and assets, whether such infrastructure and assets reside inside the organization, on their network perimeter, on endpoints or in the cloud.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.