Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 1.2%

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $51.81 and last traded at $51.82. 521,510 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 4,460,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.63.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $16.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 301.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.15. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.95.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 295.6% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 633 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter worth about $48,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.