Blue Grotto Capital LLC Takes $30.32 Million Position in Pinterest, Inc. $PINS

Blue Grotto Capital LLC acquired a new position in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 942,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,322,000. Pinterest accounts for 3.5% of Blue Grotto Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PINS. Eschler Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Pinterest during the third quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Pinterest by 2.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 985,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,688,000 after acquiring an additional 20,938 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Pinterest by 8.2% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 696,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,420,000 after acquiring an additional 52,779 shares during the period. RiverPark Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pinterest by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 53,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after acquiring an additional 4,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Pinterest by 174.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 334,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,762,000 after acquiring an additional 212,848 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

Pinterest Trading Down 6.5%

NYSE:PINS opened at $18.11 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.50 and its 200 day moving average is $27.49. Pinterest, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.84 and a 12 month high of $39.93. The company has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.93.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.01). Pinterest had a net margin of 9.87% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Donnelly Julia Brau sold 22,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.86, for a total value of $590,151.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 540,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,973,657.88. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Malik Ducard sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.86, for a total transaction of $155,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 699,773 shares in the company, valued at $18,096,129.78. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,457 shares of company stock valued at $876,925. 7.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PINS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Pinterest from $36.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price target (down from $35.00) on shares of Pinterest in a report on Friday, February 13th. Loop Capital cut Pinterest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut Pinterest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and nineteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pinterest has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.87.

Pinterest Profile

Pinterest, Inc operates a visual discovery platform that helps users find inspiration and ideas for projects ranging from home design and fashion to cooking and travel. Users create and curate “Pins” — images or videos linked to content — organized on thematic boards. The service is available through its website and mobile applications and emphasizes personalized recommendations and visual search to surface relevant content based on user interests.

The company’s primary revenue model is advertising, offering promoted content formats that integrate into user feeds and search results.