Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold"

Key Points

• Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) was downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a change in analysts' outlook on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, the company has received several positive ratings from other analysts, with a consensus target price of $70.11 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Recent insider trading activities include significant sales of shares by executives, with corporate insiders now owning 5.60% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Friday.

PSTG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Friday, June 20th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.11.

Pure Storage Stock Up 4.6%

NYSE:PSTG opened at $58.2880 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $56.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.61. Pure Storage has a twelve month low of $34.51 and a twelve month high of $73.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.54, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $778.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 3.93%.Pure Storage's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Pure Storage has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. FY 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $309,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 75,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,923,592.25. The trade was a 7.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $11,988,539.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,160,000. This trade represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 446,794 shares of company stock worth $26,641,913 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Pure Storage by 39.4% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,627 shares of the technology company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 13,799 shares of the technology company's stock worth $821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the second quarter worth approximately $87,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the second quarter worth approximately $507,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Pure Storage by 42.3% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 791 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company's stock.

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.

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