Insider Selling: QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) CEO Sells $15,408,435.50 in Stock

QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:QNST) 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,423,699. This represents a 43.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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.

QuinStreet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QNST opened at $20.74 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.34. QuinStreet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.28 and a fifty-two week high of $22.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 0.66.

QuinStreet (NASDAQ:QNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. QuinStreet had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 6.28%.The company had revenue of $373.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $359.95 million. As a group, analysts predict that QuinStreet, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QNST. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of QuinStreet during the first quarter valued at $6,005,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in QuinStreet by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 284,833 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 80,862 shares during the period. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in QuinStreet during the 1st quarter worth about $1,779,000. Jacobs Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in QuinStreet by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Asset Management LLC now owns 1,134,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,623,000 after purchasing an additional 201,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in QuinStreet during the 1st quarter valued at about $949,000. 97.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on QNST shares. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of QuinStreet in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of QuinStreet from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of QuinStreet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised QuinStreet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

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.