Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Phillip Securities

Key Points

• Phillip Securities upgraded Pinterest to “strong buy.” Overall analyst sentiment is “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $27.90.
• Pinterest exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.43 in EPS versus $0.36 expected and $1.18 billion in revenue, up 18.2% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 88.81% of Pinterest, while insiders sold approximately $13.65 million worth of shares over the past 90 days.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Phillip Securities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

PINS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Pinterest from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Pinterest from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pinterest from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.90.

Pinterest Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of PINS stock opened at $22.33 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Pinterest has a fifty-two week low of $13.84 and a fifty-two week high of $35.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.99.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Pinterest had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 7.49%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Pinterest will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Claude Leonard Brown sold 12,240 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $244,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,130,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,615,360. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wanjiku Walcott sold 14,103 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.21, for a total value of $256,815.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 658,902 shares in the company, valued at $11,998,605.42. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 644,952 shares of company stock worth $13,652,019 in the last ninety days. 8.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pinterest

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Pinterest during the third quarter worth about $302,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Pinterest by 17.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 30,067 shares of the company's stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 4,387 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Pinterest by 110.9% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,511 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pinterest in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Pinterest by 300.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,398,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,084,000 after buying an additional 3,299,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.81% of the company's stock.

About Pinterest

Pinterest, Inc NYSE: PINS operates a visual discovery platform that helps people find ideas and inspiration for activities such as home improvement, cooking, fashion, travel and event planning. Users can discover, save and organize images and videos—known as Pins—on personalized boards and explore recommendations based on their interests.

The company also provides tools for businesses and creators to showcase products and content on the platform. Its advertising business includes promoted Pins and other advertising formats designed to help marketers reach users while they are discovering ideas, researching products and planning purchases.

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