Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Pinterest received an average analyst rating of "Hold" from 35 analysts, with 18 holds, 16 buys, and 1 sell; the average 12-month price target is about $27.40.
• Recent analyst moves were mixed: RBC and JPMorgan raised their price targets on Pinterest, while Bank of America kept a neutral view and Argus downgraded the stock to hold.
• Insiders have sold shares recently, including two notable transactions in April and May, while institutional investors still own a large majority of the stock at 88.81%.

Shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirty-five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eighteen have issued a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.4031.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Pinterest from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $39.00) on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Pinterest from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Argus downgraded shares of Pinterest from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Pinterest from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 2,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 27,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $549,000. This represents a 7.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 27,337 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.46, for a total transaction of $559,315.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 724,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,826,809.58. The trade was a 3.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,537 shares of company stock worth $643,315. 8.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,056,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,606,632,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069,646 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,809,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $719,994,000 after acquiring an additional 3,669,476 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,808,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $694,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,258,628 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,492,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,432,000 after acquiring an additional 7,412,213 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 10.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,732,086 shares of the company's stock valued at $634,767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913,668 shares during the period. 88.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pinterest Price Performance

PINS stock opened at $20.74 on Thursday. Pinterest has a one year low of $13.84 and a one year high of $39.93. The company's fifty day moving average price is $19.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.23. The company has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 43.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.92.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Pinterest had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $965.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pinterest will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Pinterest

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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