Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Downgraded to Sell at UBS Group

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) was downgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $47.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $44.00. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 26.21% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $63.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.11.

Pure Storage Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PSTG opened at $63.69 on Tuesday. Pure Storage has a one year low of $31.00 and a one year high of $70.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.48 and a 200-day moving average of $50.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 227.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.11.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The business had revenue of $693.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $681.37 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pure Storage will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total transaction of $1,526,815.62. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 138,105 shares in the company, valued at $7,200,794.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total transaction of $1,526,815.62. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 138,105 shares in the company, valued at $7,200,794.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,539 shares of company stock worth $13,597,221. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter worth about $115,452,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Pure Storage by 4,095.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,121,344 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094,618 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its position in Pure Storage by 33.8% during the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 4,068,672 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $144,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,104 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its position in Pure Storage by 835.2% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,078,454 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,458,000 after acquiring an additional 963,140 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in Pure Storage by 83.9% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,068,255 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $73,754,000 after acquiring an additional 943,850 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pure Storage

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.