Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 1.8%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) shares traded down 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $53.67 and last traded at $54.01. 498,466 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 4,728,408 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.53.

Pure Storage Stock Down 2.8 %

The company has a market cap of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 314.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.90 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.44.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider now owns 380,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PSTG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $90,143,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 24.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,091,077 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $359,464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807,489 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 5,725.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,614,837 shares of the technology company's stock worth $57,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587,116 shares in the last quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter worth $36,678,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 61.5% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399,759 shares of the technology company's stock worth $121,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Company Profile

Pure Storage, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides data storage technologies, products, and services in the United States and internationally. The company's Purity software is shared across its products and provides enterprise-class data services, such as data reduction, data protection, and encryption, as well as storage protocols, including block, file, and object.