Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on PSTG. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pure Storage presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Price Performance

PSTG stock opened at $52.44 on Friday. Pure Storage has a 52-week low of $22.14 and a 52-week high of $58.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.95. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 308.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.15.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. Pure Storage’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total transaction of $807,100.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 507,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,813,107.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total transaction of $807,100.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 507,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,813,107.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Pure Storage by 295.6% in the first 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.