Wall Street Zen Downgrades Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) to Hold

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Pinterest from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Pinterest from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Pinterest from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nineteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.69.

Pinterest Stock Up 0.4%

Pinterest stock opened at $24.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.53. Pinterest has a twelve month low of $13.84 and a twelve month high of $39.93. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $965.84 million. Pinterest had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The company’s revenue was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Pinterest will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Benjamin Silbermann sold 46,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.54, for a total transaction of $1,056,562.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 14,208 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.65, for a total value of $279,187.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 691,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,594,656. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 370,720 shares of company stock worth $7,892,627 over the last ninety days. 8.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pinterest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pinterest by 2,298.3% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 185,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,701,000 after purchasing an additional 177,449 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in Pinterest by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 397,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,289,000 after buying an additional 150,900 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Pinterest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,812,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 103.4% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 838,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,709,000 after acquiring an additional 426,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freemont Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Pinterest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,540,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

About Pinterest

Pinterest, Inc operates a visual discovery platform that helps users find inspiration and ideas for projects ranging from home design and fashion to cooking and travel. Users create and curate “Pins” — images or videos linked to content — organized on thematic boards. The service is available through its website and mobile applications and emphasizes personalized recommendations and visual search to surface relevant content based on user interests.

The company’s primary revenue model is advertising, offering promoted content formats that integrate into user feeds and search results.