BlackRock Inc. Makes New Investment in QuinStreet, Inc. $QNST

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired a 19.11% stake in QuinStreet, purchasing 10.98 million shares valued at approximately $160.8 million during the second quarter. Other institutional investors also initiated or increased positions, bringing total institutional ownership to 97.83%.
• Analyst sentiment improved, with Lake Street Capital upgrading the stock to “Buy” and other firms issuing upgrades. QuinStreet has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $22.00.
• QuinStreet exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $0.50 per share versus the $0.44 estimate and revenue of $373.88 million versus $359.95 million expected. Meanwhile, executives sold shares under pre-arranged plans to cover taxes on vested equity awards.

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:QNST - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,976,422 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $160,805,000. BlackRock Inc. owned 19.11% of QuinStreet as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in QNST. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in QuinStreet in the second quarter valued at about $863,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of QuinStreet in the second quarter worth about $4,708,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of QuinStreet during the second quarter worth about $400,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of QuinStreet during the second quarter worth about $868,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on QNST shares. Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of QuinStreet from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Douglas Valenti sold 751,631 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $15,408,435.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 996,278 shares in the company, valued at $20,423,699. The trade was a 43.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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, CFO Gregory Wong sold 26,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.09, for a total value of $528,286.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 521,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,484,629.47. The trade was a 4.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 sold a total of 862,026 shares of company stock valued at $17,423,897 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

QuinStreet Price Performance

QNST stock opened at $19.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.66. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.90. QuinStreet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.28 and a 1 year high of $22.29.

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

QuinStreet Profile

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.

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