Benchmark Upgrades Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) to “Buy”

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) was upgraded by stock analysts at Benchmark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $55.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark’s price target points to a potential upside of 63.69% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PINS. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Pinterest from $41.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Pinterest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.54.

Pinterest Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PINS opened at $33.60 on Friday. Pinterest has a 52 week low of $27.00 and a 52 week high of $45.19. The firm has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 112.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.17 and its 200-day moving average is $31.55.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.30). Pinterest had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 6.21%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pinterest will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Pinterest news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $972,338.28. This represents a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,862 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.82, for a total transaction of $365,586.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,610,105.22. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,157 shares of company stock worth $589,131 over the last 90 days. 7.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pinterest

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its position in Pinterest by 132.1% during the fourth quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 32,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,000 after buying an additional 18,729 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Pinterest during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,965,000. Candriam S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Pinterest by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 40,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 6,887 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pinterest by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 132,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,014,000 after purchasing an additional 25,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. 88.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.