LPL Financial LLC Raises Stock Position in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Pinterest, Inc. by 26.3% in the first quarter, owning approximately 553,770 shares valued at $17.17 million after acquiring 115,343 additional shares.
• Pinterest's stock price rose 0.8% to $39.18, with a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, while the company's revenue increased by 15.5% year-over-year.
• Insider trading activity included Director Benjamin Silbermann selling 408,332 shares for over $13.54 million, reducing his ownership by 98.49%.

LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS - Free Report) by 26.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 553,770 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 115,343 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Pinterest worth $17,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PINS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Pinterest by 73.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 89,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,760,000 after buying an additional 37,829 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pinterest during the 1st quarter valued at $235,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pinterest during the 1st quarter valued at $261,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Pinterest by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 112,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,478,000 after buying an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pinterest during the 4th quarter valued at $252,000. 88.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pinterest Stock Performance

PINS stock traded down $3.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.19. 37,460,885 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,693,246. Pinterest, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.68 and a 12 month high of $40.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.12. The company has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.78.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). Pinterest had a net margin of 49.31% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The company had revenue of $998.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Pinterest's revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on PINS shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Pinterest from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Pinterest from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pinterest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pinterest news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $42,412.00. Following the sale, the director owned 31,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,170,940. The trade was a 3.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total transaction of $410,676.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 390,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,923,406.40. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,502,611 shares of company stock worth $51,602,943 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.06% of the company's stock.

Pinterest Profile

Pinterest, Inc operates as a visual search and discovery platform in the United States and internationally. Its platform allows people to find ideas, such as recipes, home and style inspiration, and others; and to search, save, and shop the ideas. The company was formerly known as Cold Brew Labs Inc and changed its name to Pinterest, Inc in April 2012.