Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) Raised to Outperform at Sanford C. Bernstein

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) was upgraded by investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $47.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $34.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price indicates a potential upside of 39.88% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on PINS. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Pinterest from $41.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Pinterest from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark upgraded Pinterest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Pinterest in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Pinterest from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pinterest presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.54.

Pinterest Stock Performance

Shares of Pinterest stock opened at $33.60 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.55. The company has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 112.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. Pinterest has a one year low of $27.00 and a one year high of $45.19.

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 return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 6.21%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pinterest will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 11,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.82, for a total value of $365,586.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 246,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,610,105.22. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $34,189.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $967,295.28. This represents a 3.41 % 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 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Pinterest in the third quarter valued at approximately $153,829,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new stake in Pinterest during the 3rd quarter valued at $123,006,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 51.5% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,812,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,248,000 after purchasing an additional 2,996,750 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pinterest in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,261,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Pinterest by 122.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,807,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093,248 shares during the period. 88.81% of the stock is currently 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.