Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Stake in QuinStreet, Inc. $QNST

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC nearly doubled its QuinStreet stake in the second quarter, increasing ownership by 92.5% to 238,834 shares, while institutional investors collectively held 97.83% of the company.
• QuinStreet exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.50 EPS versus the $0.44 consensus and revenue of $373.88 million versus estimates of $359.95 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and $22.00 price target, although insiders sold $17.4 million of shares over the last three months.

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:QNST - Free Report) by 92.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 238,834 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 114,748 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.42% of QuinStreet worth $3,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in QNST. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in QuinStreet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,859,000. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in QuinStreet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $245,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of QuinStreet in the 2nd quarter worth $387,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of QuinStreet during the second quarter valued at approximately $790,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in QuinStreet in the second quarter valued at about $2,017,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.83% of the company's stock.

QuinStreet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ QNST opened at $18.03 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $18.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.38. QuinStreet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.28 and a 12-month high of $22.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.70.

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. QuinStreet had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The business had revenue of $373.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.95 million. As a group, analysts expect that QuinStreet, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QNST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded QuinStreet from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings raised QuinStreet from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Lake Street Capital raised shares of QuinStreet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of QuinStreet in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded QuinStreet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other QuinStreet news, CEO Douglas Valenti sold 751,631 shares of the business's 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 owned 996,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,423,699. The trade was a 43.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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, Director Asmau Ahmed sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total value of $203,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $507,073.70. The trade was a 28.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 862,026 shares of company stock worth $17,423,897 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

QuinStreet Company 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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