Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,308,469 shares of the company’s stock after selling 215,816 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Pinterest were worth $240,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PINS. Leibman Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Pinterest by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 64,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 32,464 shares during the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Pinterest during the 4th quarter worth $4,289,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Pinterest by 91.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 24,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 11,925 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Pinterest during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,296,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Pinterest in the fourth quarter valued at about $520,000. Institutional investors own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PINS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Pinterest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Pinterest from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Pinterest from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $34,994.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $920,081.48. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Benjamin Silbermann sold 102,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.16, for a total transaction of $3,180,906.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,497.84. This represents a 94.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 351,753 shares of company stock worth $11,640,201. Insiders own 7.11% of the company’s stock.

Pinterest Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PINS opened at $31.02 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.44. Pinterest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.00 and a 1 year high of $45.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.02.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.30). Pinterest had a net margin of 51.07% and a return on equity of 8.10%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Pinterest Company 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.