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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Pinterest from "hold" to "buy", though the consensus remains an overall "Hold" with an average price target of $25.87.
• Pinterest's latest quarter slightly missed estimates (EPS $0.67 vs. $0.68; revenue $1.32B vs. $1.33B) while revenue grew 14.3% year-over-year, and the stock trades around $18.71 versus a one-year high of $39.93.
• Insiders have sold roughly 34,457 shares in the past 90 days, and institutional investors own about 88.8% of the company, with major funds (Vanguard, Price T. Rowe, State Street) increasing stakes recently.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

PINS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $36.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Pinterest from $35.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Pinterest from $30.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $33.00 target price on shares of Pinterest and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and nineteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.87.

Pinterest Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PINS opened at $18.71 on Friday. Pinterest has a 1 year low of $13.84 and a 1 year high of $39.93. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $20.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.75.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Pinterest had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 9.87%.The firm's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pinterest will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pinterest news, CFO Donnelly Julia Brau sold 22,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.86, for a total transaction of $590,151.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 540,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,973,657.88. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Malik Ducard sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.86, for a total value of $155,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 699,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,096,129.78. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,457 shares of company stock worth $876,925. 7.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pinterest

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pinterest by 1.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Pinterest by 15.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Pinterest by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,808,870 shares of the company's stock worth $694,082,000 after buying an additional 6,258,628 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Pinterest by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,492,169 shares of the company's stock worth $556,432,000 after acquiring an additional 7,412,213 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Pinterest by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,732,086 shares of the company's stock worth $634,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,668 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.81% of the company's stock.

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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