Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 0.6% After Insider Selling

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s stock price dropped 0.6% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $48.90 and last traded at $49.17. Approximately 450,236 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 4,610,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.46.

Specifically, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total value of $807,100.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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 available at this hyperlink. In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,200,794.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PSTG shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Stock Up 2.1 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.41 billion, a PE ratio of 297.19, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.38.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 19.7% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 464,256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 76,421 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 11.4% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 687,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $24,492,000 after purchasing an additional 70,620 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 533,530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,026,000 after purchasing an additional 62,274 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.