Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading Down 0.5%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) fell 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $49.93 and last traded at $50.16. 770,789 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 4,449,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Raymond James cut Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.63.

Pure Storage Trading Up 1.6 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 307.31, a P/E/G ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 295.6% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 633 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.