Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Downgraded to Outperform at Raymond James

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $63.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $52.00. Raymond James’ price objective points to a potential upside of 27.38% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, March 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PSTG opened at $49.46 on Friday. Pure Storage has a twelve month low of $22.14 and a twelve month high of $58.46. The firm has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 290.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 1.15. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $50.02 and a 200-day moving average of $41.22.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,349,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Pure Storage news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,349,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the 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 directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock worth $15,266,704. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,073 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 25,839 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 2.8% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 0.3% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 120,438 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,096,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 17,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.