Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Pinterest has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating increased analyst confidence in the company's prospects.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Pinterest, with Citigroup setting a new target of $50.00 and an overall consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company's recent earnings report showed a 16.9% year-over-year revenue increase, despite missing EPS estimates by $0.01.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on PINS. Wolfe Research raised shares of Pinterest from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Pinterest from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $42.00 price target on shares of Pinterest and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Pinterest presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.40.

Pinterest Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PINS traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $34.25. 17,708,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,966,727. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $36.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.13. The firm has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.78. Pinterest has a 52-week low of $23.68 and a 52-week high of $40.90.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). Pinterest had a net margin of 49.31% and a return on equity of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $998.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.42 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Pinterest will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pinterest

In related news, Director Benjamin Silbermann sold 408,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $13,540,289.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $208,045.84. This trade represents a 98.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,502,611 shares of company stock valued at $51,602,943 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.11% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinterest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Pinterest by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,008,711 shares of the company's stock worth $1,798,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,863 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 25.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,892,284 shares of the company's stock worth $988,662,000 after purchasing an additional 6,460,143 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 13.7% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 15,498,454 shares of the company's stock worth $480,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,654 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Pinterest by 618.9% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 14,254,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $441,897,000 after acquiring an additional 12,271,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Pinterest by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 10,701,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $310,352,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.81% of the company's stock.

About Pinterest

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.