Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PSTG opened at $52.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 311.49, a P/E/G ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.15. Pure Storage has a 12 month low of $22.14 and a 12 month high of $58.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Pure Storage by 1.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 46,793,394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,666,781,000 after purchasing an additional 663,465 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Pure Storage by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,294,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,115,955,000 after purchasing an additional 567,358 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its position in Pure Storage by 33.8% during the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 4,068,672 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $144,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,104 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Pure Storage by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,028,716 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,664,000 after purchasing an additional 160,877 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,294,285 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

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.