Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 0.7%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) shares were down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $52.42 and last traded at $52.59. Approximately 480,211 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 4,483,510 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PSTG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pure Storage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Trading Down 1.3 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.86 and a 200 day moving average of $41.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a PE ratio of 309.37, a PEG ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.15.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total value of $807,100.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 507,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,813,107.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 380,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 1.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 46,793,394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,666,781,000 after buying an additional 663,465 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,294,297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,115,955,000 after buying an additional 567,358 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 33.8% in the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 4,068,672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $144,926,000 after buying an additional 1,028,104 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,028,716 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,664,000 after buying an additional 160,877 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 61.5% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399,759 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $121,081,000 after buying an additional 1,294,285 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Company Profile

Pure Storage, Inc engages in the provision of data storage and management technologies, products, and services in the United States and internationally. Its Purity software is shared across its products and provides enterprise-class data services, such as always-on data reduction, data protection, and encryption, as well as storage protocols, including block, file, and object.