Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $45.00. The stock had previously closed at $37.35, but opened at $34.51. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Pinterest shares last traded at $33.97, with a volume of 2,991,574 shares traded.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PINS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Pinterest from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Pinterest in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Pinterest in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Pinterest from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Pinterest from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pinterest presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pinterest

In other news, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.42, for a total transaction of $481,590.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 307,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,726,543.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,627 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.42, for a total transaction of $481,590.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 307,256 shares in the company, valued at $12,726,543.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,934 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.25, for a total transaction of $81,711.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,255,332. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,250 shares of company stock worth $2,191,304 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinterest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pinterest by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,343,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,988,110,000 after acquiring an additional 994,848 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Pinterest by 9.5% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,116,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,818,000 after acquiring an additional 880,398 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pinterest by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,036,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548,925 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Pinterest by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,887,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,179,000 after acquiring an additional 64,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Pinterest by 2.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,179,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,592,000 after acquiring an additional 176,540 shares in the last quarter. 88.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pinterest Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 161.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.97.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $853.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $848.75 million. Pinterest had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 4.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.