Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) Upgraded at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $40.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $39.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on PINS. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Pinterest from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $39.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Pinterest from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Pinterest from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.33.

Pinterest Stock Performance

NYSE:PINS opened at $32.96 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.35. Pinterest has a one year low of $27.00 and a one year high of $45.19. The firm has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.02.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.30). Pinterest had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 51.07%. On average, research analysts predict that Pinterest will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pinterest

In other Pinterest news, CAO Andrea Acosta sold 3,667 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.46, for a total transaction of $137,365.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 144,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,399,072.34. This trade represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $34,994.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $920,081.48. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 237,417 shares of company stock worth $7,803,946. 7.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Pinterest by 104.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,432,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,533,000 after buying an additional 12,986,310 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Pinterest by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,635,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,441,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527,902 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Pinterest by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,773,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,483,000 after acquiring an additional 156,748 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Pinterest by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,599,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,381,000 after purchasing an additional 316,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pinterest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $358,205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

Pinterest Company 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.