Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Gap Down to $65.51

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $65.51, but opened at $61.00. Pure Storage shares last traded at $61.78, with a volume of 804,687 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $64.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.11.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.48. The company has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 227.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total transaction of $312,110.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,299,560.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total transaction of $807,100.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 507,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,813,107.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total transaction of $312,110.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,299,560.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 254,539 shares of company stock worth $13,597,221. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,830,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 113.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Michael S. Ryan Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 4,542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,095,000. 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.