Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $47.00. The stock had previously closed at $33.59, but opened at $40.89. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Pinterest shares last traded at $39.63, with a volume of 22,503,779 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on PINS. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Pinterest from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pinterest currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Andrea Acosta sold 3,845 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.88, for a total transaction of $118,733.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 158,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,893,491.84. The trade was a 2.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.82, for a total value of $365,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 246,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,610,105.22. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,157 shares of company stock valued at $589,131 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pinterest

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Pinterest by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 43,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Pinterest in the 2nd quarter valued at $207,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Pinterest by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 69,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,046,000 after purchasing an additional 5,587 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Pinterest by 91.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 66,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 31,863 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in Pinterest by 218.4% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 35,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,134,000 after buying an additional 24,028 shares during the period. 88.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pinterest Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $26.70 billion, a PE ratio of 132.93, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.55.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.30). Pinterest had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 8.37%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.