Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) were down 0.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $63.26 and last traded at $63.43. Approximately 418,571 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 4,246,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on PSTG shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Pure Storage from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Lake Street Capital raised their target price on Pure Storage from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $63.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.11.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 226.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $693.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $681.37 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 3.19%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 507,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,813,107.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Andrew William Fraser Brown sold 20,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.31, for a total transaction of $1,075,702.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,364. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 507,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,813,107.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 216,951 shares of company stock worth $11,584,759. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,789,480 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,652,735,000 after buying an additional 495,183 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 4,068,672 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $144,926,000 after buying an additional 1,028,104 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,028,716 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,664,000 after buying an additional 160,877 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth $115,452,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 83.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,068,255 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $73,754,000 after buying an additional 943,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

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.