Zacks Research Downgrades QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) to Strong Sell

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

QNST has been the topic of several other reports. B. Riley Financial raised shares of QuinStreet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Northland Securities began coverage on shares of QuinStreet in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised QuinStreet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded QuinStreet from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

QuinStreet Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:QNST opened at $15.82 on Wednesday. QuinStreet has a 52 week low of $10.28 and a 52 week high of $17.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.72 and its 200-day moving average is $12.84. The company has a market capitalization of $908.70 million, a PE ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.67.

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $346.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.22 million. QuinStreet had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 9.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that QuinStreet will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at QuinStreet

In other QuinStreet news, CFO Gregory Wong sold 22,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.19, for a total transaction of $268,874.83. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 400,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,884,313.58. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuinStreet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in QuinStreet by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 362,042 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,174,000 after buying an additional 135,527 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in QuinStreet by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,633,251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,470,000 after buying an additional 496,492 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of QuinStreet by 161.4% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 580,853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,986,000 after buying an additional 358,610 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of QuinStreet by 39.6% in the 4th 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. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of QuinStreet during the first quarter worth $1,779,000. 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.