JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock Price

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective suggests a potential upside of 30.82% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on Pure Storage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.95.

Pure Storage Price Performance

NYSE:PSTG traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $53.51. 5,960,451 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,086,173. Pure Storage has a twelve month low of $34.51 and a twelve month high of $73.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.40 and a 200 day moving average of $55.92. The stock has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a PE ratio of 140.82, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 4.22%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,977 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $285,429.07. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 90,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,691,022.93. This trade represents a 7.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total value of $5,201,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 801,959 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,709,887.59. This trade represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 107,849 shares of company stock valued at $5,531,346. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter worth about $10,265,000. Capital Impact Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter worth about $5,617,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the first quarter worth approximately $258,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 1.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,537,264 shares of the technology company's stock worth $112,325,000 after purchasing an additional 47,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the first quarter worth approximately $38,989,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by 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.