Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Pinterest was downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a more cautious outlook on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts remain optimistic with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $42.40.
• Pinterest's recent earnings report showed a quarterly revenue increase of 16.9% year-over-year, although it fell slightly short of EPS estimates.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on PINS. KeyCorp increased their target price on Pinterest from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Pinterest from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Pinterest from $46.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Pinterest from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pinterest has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.40.

Pinterest Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE PINS opened at $35.85 on Friday. Pinterest has a 12 month low of $23.68 and a 12 month high of $40.90. The stock has a market cap of $24.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $36.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.21.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). Pinterest had a return on equity of 8.44% and a net margin of 49.31%. The company had revenue of $998.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $973.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Pinterest will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pinterest

In other news, Director Benjamin Silbermann sold 102,083 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total value of $3,279,926.79. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $201,583.62. This trade represents a 94.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,094,279 shares of company stock valued at $38,062,654 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 20.7% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 766,110 shares of the company's stock worth $27,523,000 after buying an additional 131,332 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 222.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 25,054 shares of the company's stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 17,293 shares during the period. Cannell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Pinterest in the second quarter worth about $2,998,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pinterest in the second quarter worth about $444,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pinterest by 819.6% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 4,120 shares of the company's stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 3,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.81% of the company's stock.

Pinterest Company 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.

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