Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 5.8% – Here’s Why

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was down 5.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $77.11 and last traded at $77.2190. Approximately 4,078,683 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 42% from the average daily volume of 2,879,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PSTG has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Pure Storage from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $93.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.61.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.13. The company has a market capitalization of $25.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 188.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.24.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pure Storage news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.93, for a total transaction of $230,790.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,257,266.99. This represents a 15.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.42, for a total value of $528,978.42. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 62,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,486,391.78. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 443,111 shares of company stock valued at $36,793,439 over the last quarter. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new position in Pure Storage in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Pure Storage by 287.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.