Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 215,816 Shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,308,469 shares of the company’s stock after selling 215,816 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.23% of Pinterest worth $240,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Pinterest by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 12,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pinterest by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Pinterest by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 39,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Pinterest by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Pinterest

In other news, Director Jeremy S. Levine sold 50,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $1,717,179.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,156,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,304,428.14. This represents a 4.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 12,253 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total transaction of $395,036.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 228,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,367,162.40. The trade was a 5.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 351,753 shares of company stock valued at $11,640,201. 7.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PINS. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Pinterest in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Pinterest from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Pinterest from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Pinterest in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Pinterest from $46.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pinterest presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.17.

Pinterest Price Performance

Shares of PINS opened at $31.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.02. Pinterest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.00 and a 1-year high of $45.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.65 and a 200 day moving average of $32.44.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last announced 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 51.07% and a return on equity of 8.10%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.