Verus Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Pinterest, Inc. $PINS

Verus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINS. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pinterest by 282.7% in the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in Pinterest in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pinterest in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in Pinterest by 97.7% in the first quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Pinterest by 798.4% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pinterest

In other Pinterest news, CAO Andrea Acosta sold 3,759 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $131,414.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 157,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,502,773.92. This trade represents a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $40,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 30,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,000. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 640,236 shares of company stock valued at $22,878,326. 7.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pinterest Stock Performance

Shares of PINS traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $27.57. 543,057 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,841,868. The stock has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.88. Pinterest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.68 and a 1 year high of $40.90.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 19th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $665.93 million during the quarter. Pinterest had a net margin of 48.99% and a return on equity of 8.20%. On average, analysts forecast that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Pinterest from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Pinterest from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $37.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Pinterest from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Pinterest from $44.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.55.

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.