QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:QNST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:QNST) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.80.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on QNST shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up from $32.00) on shares of QuinStreet in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on shares of QuinStreet from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of QuinStreet in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

QuinStreet Price Performance

QNST opened at $18.31 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -83.23 and a beta of 1.13. QuinStreet has a one year low of $15.04 and a one year high of $26.27.

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The technology company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.21). QuinStreet had a negative net margin of 1.31% and a negative return on equity of 4.13%. On average, analysts expect that QuinStreet will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Douglas Valenti sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $250,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,836,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,955,585.08. This represents a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gregory Wong sold 8,516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.88, for a total transaction of $194,846.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 337,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,711,269.28. This trade represents a 2.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuinStreet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QNST. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of QuinStreet by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,787,695 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,312,000 after acquiring an additional 617,216 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of QuinStreet by 177.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 946,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,827,000 after acquiring an additional 605,500 shares during the last quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC bought a new position in shares of QuinStreet during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,203,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of QuinStreet by 537.4% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 332,763 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,677,000 after acquiring an additional 280,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oberweis Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of QuinStreet during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,191,000. 97.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

QuinStreet Company Profile

QuinStreet, Inc, an online performance marketing company, provides customer acquisition services for its clients in the United States and internationally. The company offers online marketing services, such as qualified clicks, leads, calls, applications, and customers through its websites or third-party publishers.