Traders Buy Large Volume of Pinterest Call Options (NYSE:PINS)

Key Points

• On Monday, Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) experienced a significant increase in options trading, with 37,150 call options purchased, marking a 43% rise compared to its average daily volume.
• Analysts have mixed views on Pinterest, with UBS raising their price target to $50 and BMO Capital Markets lowering theirs to $40; the overall consensus rating remains "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity includes Director Benjamin Silbermann selling over 102,000 shares, representing a dramatic 92% reduction in his ownership stake in the company.

Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 37,150 call options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof43% compared to the typical daily volume of 25,929 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PINS. UBS Group increased their price target on Pinterest from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Pinterest from $46.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Pinterest from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $42.00 price target on Pinterest and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Benjamin Silbermann sold 102,083 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.95, for a total value of $3,874,049.85. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $319,311.30. The trade was a 92.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,510 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total value of $410,676.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 390,230 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,406.40. The trade was a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,502,611 shares of company stock worth $51,602,943. Insiders own 7.06% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinterest

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pinterest in the 4th quarter worth $252,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,215 shares of the company's stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 1,909 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Pinterest during the fourth quarter worth $279,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,648,352 shares of the company's stock worth $279,281,000 after buying an additional 181,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 911,315 shares of the company's stock worth $26,428,000 after buying an additional 67,128 shares in the last quarter. 88.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pinterest Price Performance

NYSE PINS traded up $1.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.87. 3,791,532 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,636,731. The firm has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $35.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.90. Pinterest has a 12-month low of $23.68 and a 12-month high of $40.90.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). Pinterest had a return on equity of 8.13% and a net margin of 50.41%. The company had revenue of $854.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $848.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Pinterest will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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