Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.86.

A number of research firms have commented on PINS. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Pinterest from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $39.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Pinterest from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Pinterest from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Pinterest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pinterest news, CAO Andrea Acosta sold 3,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.88, for a total transaction of $118,733.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 158,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,893,491.84. This trade represents a 2.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.19, for a total transaction of $45,068.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,880.34. The trade was a 3.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,157 shares of company stock valued at $600,010 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pinterest

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pinterest by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Pinterest by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 12,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 39,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

Pinterest Price Performance

Shares of PINS stock opened at $39.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.78. Pinterest has a 12 month low of $27.00 and a 12 month high of $45.19.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.30). Pinterest had a net margin of 51.07% and a return on equity of 8.10%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pinterest will post 0.6 EPS for the current 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.