Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock Price Down 2.5% – What’s Next?

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) were down 2.5% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $69.51 and last traded at $70.37. Approximately 6,596,610 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 115% from the average daily volume of 3,062,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $83.00 target price on Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Tigress Financial set a $105.00 price objective on Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.26.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.30. The company has a market capitalization of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 185.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.27.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 10.60%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, CAO Mona Chu sold 9,091 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $771,916.81. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 107,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,115,343.23. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.59, for a total value of $9,159,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $9,159,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 327,311 shares of company stock valued at $29,498,100 over the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Pure Storage in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 287.1% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 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.