QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

QNST has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised QuinStreet from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of QuinStreet in a report on Friday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

QuinStreet Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of QNST opened at $19.18 on Friday. QuinStreet has a 1 year low of $10.28 and a 1 year high of $22.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.66.

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $373.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.95 million. QuinStreet had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 12.73%. On average, analysts forecast that QuinStreet will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Gregory Wong sold 26,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.09, for a total transaction of $528,286.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 521,883 shares in the company, valued at $10,484,629.47. This represents a 4.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Douglas Valenti sold 751,631 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $15,408,435.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 996,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,423,699. This represents a 43.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 862,026 shares of company stock valued at $17,423,897 over the last three months. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuinStreet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in QuinStreet in the first quarter worth $6,005,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in QuinStreet by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 284,833 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,093,000 after buying an additional 80,862 shares during the period. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of QuinStreet during the 1st quarter valued at $1,779,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of QuinStreet during the 2nd quarter valued at $868,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of QuinStreet by 96.9% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 500,476 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 246,356 shares during the period. 97.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About QuinStreet

QuinStreet, Inc operates a technology-based performance marketing platform that connects companies with prospective customers across multiple verticals. The company specializes in data-driven lead generation for financial services, education, insurance, healthcare, and home services firms. By leveraging proprietary targeting algorithms and real-time analytics, QuinStreet manages customized digital marketing campaigns to optimize customer acquisition and retention for its clients.

Through a portfolio of consumer-facing websites and comparison platforms, QuinStreet delivers targeted visitors who are actively researching products and services.