Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Position in Pinterest, Inc. $PINS

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System initiated a new position in Pinterest during the first quarter, buying 169,800 shares worth about $3.11 million.
• Pinterest reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $0.27 versus the $0.22 estimate and revenue of $1.01 billion, up 17.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: several firms raised price targets, but the stock’s consensus rating is still “Hold” with an average target price of $27.40.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 169,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,114,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PINS. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 2,298.3% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 185,170 shares of the company's stock worth $4,701,000 after acquiring an additional 177,449 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Pinterest by 82.7% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 703,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,631,000 after acquiring an additional 318,351 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in Pinterest by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 397,400 shares of the company's stock worth $10,289,000 after purchasing an additional 150,900 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Pinterest in the fourth quarter worth $12,812,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position in shares of Pinterest by 103.4% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 838,500 shares of the company's stock worth $21,709,000 after purchasing an additional 426,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.81% of the company's stock.

Pinterest Stock Down 0.1%

PINS stock opened at $20.79 on Monday. Pinterest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.84 and a 52 week high of $39.93. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $965.84 million. Pinterest had a return on equity of 8.26% and a net margin of 7.64%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $549,000. This trade represents a 7.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 27,337 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.46, for a total value of $559,315.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 724,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,826,809.58. The trade was a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 232,195 shares of company stock valued at $4,811,815 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PINS shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Pinterest from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Pinterest from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Pinterest from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Pinterest in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sixteen investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.40.

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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