Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 5%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s share price was down 5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $60.50 and last traded at $62.23. Approximately 1,544,200 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 4,271,797 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on PSTG shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com raised Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Northland Capmk downgraded Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Pure Storage from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and increased their price target for the company from $44.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.11.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of 227.46, a PEG ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.48.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $681.37 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 3.19%. Analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total value of $312,110.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,299,560.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 254,539 shares of company stock worth $13,597,221. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in Pure Storage by 61.2% during the second 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 Pure Storage during the second quarter worth about $1,830,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 113.6% during the second 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 last quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 4.8% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth about $5,095,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.