Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $363,000 in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PINS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Pinterest by 14.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,489,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,635,000 after buying an additional 184,639 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pinterest in the 2nd quarter worth about $233,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Pinterest by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 540,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,314,000 after buying an additional 78,386 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in shares of Pinterest by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 114,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,025,000 after acquiring an additional 44,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 56,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,510,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. 88.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pinterest Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of PINS opened at $32.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.72, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.04. Pinterest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.00 and a 52 week high of $45.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.64 and a 200-day moving average of $32.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on shares of Pinterest from $39.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Pinterest from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $32.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Pinterest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Pinterest in a report on Friday, November 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.98, for a total transaction of $35,627.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $972,338.28. This represents a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,862 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.82, for a total transaction of $365,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 246,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,610,105.22. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,157 shares of company stock valued at $589,131 over the last 90 days. 7.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pinterest 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.