Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PSTG. Raymond James lowered shares of Pure Storage from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Trading Up 1.4 %

PSTG opened at $52.97 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a PE ratio of 311.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.15. Pure Storage has a twelve month low of $22.14 and a twelve month high of $58.46.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total value 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 approximately $26,813,107.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of Pure Storage 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 completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 138,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,200,794.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $26,813,107.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PSTG. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. 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.