Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) shares traded down 3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $52.84 and last traded at $52.98. 89,920 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 3,624,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PSTG has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Pure Storage from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Lake Street Capital cut their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $59.00 price target (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.95.

Pure Storage Stock Down 4.7 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a PE ratio of 136.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 1.10.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.59 million. On average, analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total value of $4,994,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,970,000. This represents a 16.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.67, for a total value of $450,709.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 94,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,578.82. This represents a 8.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 354,542 shares of company stock worth $18,599,030 over the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 61.2% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 242.9% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Pure Storage in the second quarter valued at $33,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, City State Bank increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 175.0% during the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.