Is Qualys Stock a Buy or Sell After Its CFO Dumped Nearly 7,000 Shares?
Key Points
CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 6,799 shares for a transaction value of ~$873,369.30 on Feb. 4, 2026, at a weighted average price around $128.46 per share.
The sale represented 7.14% of Joo Mi Kim's direct holdings, reducing direct ownership to 88,489 shares post-transaction.
No indirect holdings or derivative instruments were involved; activity was limited to direct open-market sales.
The transaction size was materially larger than Joo Mi Kim's historical median, reflecting ongoing reduction in available share capacity following accelerated disposition cadence since Oct. 2024.
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Joo Mi Kim, Chief Financial Officer of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS), reported the direct sale of 6,799 shares for a transaction value of approximately $873,369.30 on Feb. 4, 2026, according to the SEC Form 4 filing.
Transaction summary
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Shares sold (direct) | 6,799 |
| Transaction value | ~$873,369.30 |
| Post-transaction shares (direct) | 88,489 |
| Post-transaction value (direct ownership) | ~$11,431,009.02 |
Transaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($128.46); post-transaction value based on Feb. 4, 2026 market close ($128.46).
Key questions
- How does this sale compare to Joo Mi Kim’s typical transaction size?
The 6,799-share sale is substantially larger than the recent median sell-only transaction of 1,474.5 shares, indicating a step-up in disposition size as direct share capacity declines. - What proportion of direct holdings was impacted, and what does this say about remaining capacity?
The sale accounted for 7.14% of direct holdings, a proportion well above the 1.05% recent median, consistent with capacity-driven increases as the insider's available shares are reduced to roughly 53.3% of the April 2023 level. - What was the market context and price realization for this transaction?
The weighted average sale price of around $128.46 per share was close to the Feb. 4, 2026 market close of $129.18, with shares priced approximately 16% above the current level of $110.80 as of Feb. 6, 2026.
Company overview
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Price (as of market close 2/4/26) | $128.46 |
| Market capitalization | $4.00 billion |
| Revenue (TTM) | $669.13 million |
| Net income (TTM) | $198.32 million |
* 1-year performance is calculated using Feb. 4, 2026 as the reference date.
Company snapshot
- Qualys provides a comprehensive suite of cloud-based IT, security, and compliance solutions, including vulnerability management, threat protection, patch management, and asset inventory tools.
- It generates revenue primarily through subscription-based licensing of its SaaS security platform, targeting enterprises and organizations seeking scalable, integrated cybersecurity solutions.
- The company serves a diversified customer base spanning enterprises, government entities, and SMBs across industries such as financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology.
Qualys is a leading provider of cloud-based cybersecurity and compliance solutions, operating at significant scale with $669,125,000 in TTM revenue and a market capitalization of $4 billion as of Feb. 4. The company leverages a subscription-driven SaaS model to deliver mission-critical security and IT management tools to a broad range of industries.
Its integrated platform and focus on automation provide a competitive advantage in helping organizations manage and mitigate cyber risk efficiently.
What this transaction means for investors
The sale of Qualys stock by Chief Financial Officer Joo Mi Kim was part of a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which she adopted in August of 2025. Such plans are commonly implemented by insiders to avoid accusations of making trades based on insider information.
As a result, her stock sale is not a cause for concern. She also still holds over 88,000 shares after the transaction. That said, the timing of the sale was a day before the company announced fourth quarter and 2025 full year results. After the announcement, the stock began to slide, falling to a 52-week low of $107.17 on Feb. 9.
The plunge was due to Wall Street’s disappointment over the company’s 2026 revenue guidance. Qualys forecasted 2026 sales to come in between $717 million and $725 million, representing 7% to 8% growth over 2025.
While that growth is solid, it’s not as large as the 10% year-over-year increase to $669.1 million experienced in 2025. Fearing a slowdown in sales, Wall Street dumped the stock.
As a result, Qualys shares hover around a price-to-earnings ratio of 20, which is a low point for the past few years. This creates a potential buy opportunity, but it isn’t an ideal time to sell if you’re a shareholder.
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Robert Izquierdo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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