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

Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $42.00. The stock had previously closed at $33.59, but opened at $40.89. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Pinterest shares last traded at $39.63, with a volume of 22,503,779 shares changing hands.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Pinterest from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Pinterest from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Benchmark upgraded shares of Pinterest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Pinterest from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

Insider Activity at Pinterest

In other news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $34,994.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $920,081.48. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Andrea Acosta sold 3,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.88, for a total transaction of $118,733.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 158,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,893,491.84. The trade was a 2.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,157 shares of company stock worth $589,131. Company insiders own 7.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pinterest

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pinterest during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Pinterest by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pinterest during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pinterest by 91.1% during the third quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 8,261.1% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

Pinterest Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.57. The stock has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.39, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last posted 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 return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 6.21%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.42 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.