QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

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

QuinStreet Price Performance

QNST opened at $19.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. QuinStreet has a 1 year low of $10.28 and a 1 year high of $22.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.66.

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $373.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.95 million. As a group, analysts predict that QuinStreet will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other QuinStreet news, CEO Douglas Valenti sold 751,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 15,000 shares of QuinStreet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.85, for a total value of $312,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,312.15. The trade was a 30.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 862,026 shares of company stock valued at $17,423,897 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuinStreet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in QuinStreet by 54.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,027 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in QuinStreet by 17.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP bought 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 buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of QuinStreet by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,290 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 2,420 shares during the period. 97.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.