Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 494,571 Shares of Pinterest, Inc. $PINS

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) by 53.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,421,187 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 494,571 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pinterest were worth $26,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pinterest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Pinterest by 5.9% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 10,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Pinterest by 45.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,748 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Pinterest by 39.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Pinterest in the second quarter worth approximately $696,000. 88.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pinterest Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PINS opened at $24.38 on Wednesday. Pinterest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.84 and a 12-month high of $39.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.38 and a 200 day moving average of $20.59.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Pinterest had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $965.84 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Benjamin Silbermann sold 46,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.54, for a total value of $1,056,562.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 14,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.65, for a total value of $279,187.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 691,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,594,656. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 370,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,892,627. Insiders own 8.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PINS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Pinterest from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Pinterest from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Pinterest from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Pinterest in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Pinterest in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pinterest currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.69.

Pinterest Company 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.