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

Shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) 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.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PINS. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Pinterest from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Pinterest from $37.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Pinterest from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Pinterest from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Eight 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.82, for a total value of $365,586.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 246,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,610,105.22. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.98, for a total value of $35,627.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,386 shares in the company, valued at $972,338.28. This represents a 3.53 % 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinterest

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Founders Financial Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Pinterest by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Pinterest in the fourth quarter valued at $252,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Pinterest by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 10,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pinterest by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 65,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 167.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 331,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,625,000 after acquiring an additional 207,917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

Pinterest Stock Up 19.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.57.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts predict 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.