QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded QuinStreet from “buy” to “strong-buy.” Other analysts have also turned more positive, giving the stock an overall “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $22.00.
• QuinStreet reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, beating expectations of $0.44, while revenue of $373.88 million exceeded the $359.95 million consensus estimate.
• Shares opened at $19.18, up 1.5%, but insiders sold approximately $17.4 million of stock over the past 90 days, including substantial sales by the CEO and CFO under Rule 10b5-1 plans.

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. B. Riley Financial reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of QuinStreet in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised QuinStreet from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Lake Street Capital raised shares of QuinStreet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.00.

QuinStreet Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of QNST opened at $19.18 on Friday. QuinStreet has a 12 month low of $10.28 and a 12 month high of $22.29. The firm's 50 day moving average is $17.19 and its 200-day moving average is $13.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. QuinStreet had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 6.28%.The business had revenue of $373.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $359.95 million. Equities research analysts forecast that QuinStreet will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at QuinStreet

In other news, CFO Gregory Wong sold 26,296 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.09, for a total value of $528,286.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 521,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,629.47. This trade represents a 4.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 QuinStreet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 996,278 shares in the company, valued at $20,423,699. This trade represents a 43.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 862,026 shares of company stock valued at $17,423,897. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuinStreet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of QuinStreet by 54.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,027 shares of the technology company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of QuinStreet by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of QuinStreet during the 2nd quarter valued at $66,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of QuinStreet by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,896 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC grew its position in QuinStreet by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,290 shares of the technology company's stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.83% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source