Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 114,091 Shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) by 61.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 299,460 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 114,091 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pinterest were worth $10,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Pinterest by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,343,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,988,110,000 after buying an additional 994,848 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Pinterest by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,036,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,764,000 after buying an additional 2,548,925 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Pinterest by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 9,305,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,685,000 after buying an additional 1,043,173 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Pinterest by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,887,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,179,000 after buying an additional 64,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Pinterest by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,179,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,592,000 after buying an additional 176,540 shares in the last quarter. 88.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pinterest Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:PINS traded down $0.33 on Friday, hitting $37.55. The company had a trading volume of 10,960,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,675,600. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.82, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.53. Pinterest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.59 and a 52 week high of $45.19.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $739.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.96 million. Pinterest had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 5.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pinterest, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Pinterest from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.60.

Insider Transactions at Pinterest

In other news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,934 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.25, for a total transaction of $81,711.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,255,332. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,934 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.25, for a total transaction of $81,711.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,255,332. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Donnelly Julia Brau sold 30,280 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.38, for a total transaction of $1,343,826.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 362,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,102,040.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,250 shares of company stock worth $2,191,304. Company insiders own 7.11% of the company’s stock.

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.