Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock Price Down 27.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) traded down 27.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $105.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Pure Storage traded as low as $68.34 and last traded at $68.94. 21,365,759 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 609% from the average session volume of 3,014,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.72.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PSTG. Bank of America boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler set a $92.00 target price on Pure Storage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.26.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, CAO Mona Chu sold 9,091 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total value of $771,916.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 107,353 shares in the company, valued at $9,115,343.23. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 7,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $602,151.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 229,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,005.95. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 327,311 shares of company stock valued at $29,498,100 over the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 287.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 186.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pure Storage Stock Down 27.2%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $88.90 and a 200-day moving average of $71.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 168.15, a PEG ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.27.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 4.15%.The company had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.