Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $60.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on PSTG. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Pure Storage from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Northland Securities downgraded Pure Storage from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $66.15.

Pure Storage Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Pure Storage stock opened at $66.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.21. Pure Storage has a 12-month low of $31.00 and a 12-month high of $68.75. The company has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 238.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total value of $1,526,815.62. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 138,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,200,794.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total value of $1,526,815.62. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 138,105 shares in the company, valued at $7,200,794.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 291,399 shares of company stock worth $15,578,814 in the last ninety days. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 295.6% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 633 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently 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.