Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Holdings in Pinterest, Inc. $PINS

Key Points

• Clearbridge Investments cut its Pinterest stake by 37.8% in Q4, selling 3.25 million shares and ending with 5.34 million shares valued at about $138.2 million.
• Institutional ownership in Pinterest remains high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 88.81% of the company; several big managers like Vanguard, Victory Capital, and Norges Bank either added to or initiated positions.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally constructive: Oppenheimer raised its price target to $30 after strong earnings, while the consensus rating is still Hold with a consensus target of $27.40.

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its holdings in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS - Free Report) by 37.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,338,466 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,245,125 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.79% of Pinterest worth $138,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pinterest by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,056,069 shares of the company's stock worth $1,606,632,000 after buying an additional 1,069,646 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Pinterest by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,550,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $685,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,213,241 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Pinterest by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,732,086 shares of the company's stock valued at $634,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,668 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Pinterest by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,079,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $452,952,000 after buying an additional 224,909 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pinterest in the 4th quarter valued at $357,945,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PINS. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Pinterest from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Pinterest and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pinterest

In other Pinterest news, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 27,337 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.46, for a total value of $559,315.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 724,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,826,809.58. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 2,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $42,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $549,000. This trade represents a 7.11% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,362 shares of company stock worth $1,583,253. Corporate insiders own 8.09% of the company's stock.

Pinterest Price Performance

NYSE:PINS opened at $21.36 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company's 50-day moving average is $19.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.74. Pinterest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.84 and a 12-month high of $39.93.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $965.84 million. Pinterest had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. Research analysts expect that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Key Pinterest News

Here are the key news stories impacting Pinterest this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pinterest’s expanded AWS deal should help support its AI roadmap, improve search and personalization, and potentially strengthen engagement and ad revenue over time. Pinterest Works with AWS to Power Next Chapter of AI-Driven Visual Search Discovery
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive after Pinterest’s strong first quarter, with Oppenheimer raising its price target to $30 and maintaining an Outperform rating, reinforcing bullish sentiment around the stock. Here is Why Pinterest (PINS) is One of the Best Large Cap Stocks Under $30
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Benjamin Silbermann sold 46,875 shares in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, which may weigh on sentiment a bit but does not necessarily reflect a change in outlook. Insider Selling: Pinterest NYSE: PINS Director Sells 46,875 Shares of Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent commentary noted Pinterest had been under pressure after earnings, but the AWS expansion is now the more important near-term catalyst for the stock. Pinterest signs $4 billion Amazon deal for cloud services

Pinterest Company Profile

Pinterest, Inc operates a visual discovery platform that helps users find inspiration and ideas for projects ranging from home design and fashion to cooking and travel. Users create and curate "Pins" — images or videos linked to content — organized on thematic boards. The service is available through its website and mobile applications and emphasizes personalized recommendations and visual search to surface relevant content based on user interests.

The company's primary revenue model is advertising, offering promoted content formats that integrate into user feeds and search results.

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