Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $105.00. The stock had previously closed at $94.72, but opened at $78.80. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Pure Storage shares last traded at $70.02, with a volume of 5,558,630 shares trading hands.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PSTG. Piper Sandler set a $92.00 price objective on Pure Storage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Susquehanna set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In related news, CAO Mona Chu sold 9,091 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $771,916.81. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 7,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $602,151.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 229,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,005.95. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 327,311 shares of company stock valued at $29,498,100. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Pure Storage by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,187 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 118,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,240,000 after purchasing an additional 21,812 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter worth about $284,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Pure Storage by 0.9% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 29,481 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Up 4.7%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $88.67 and its 200-day moving average is $71.30. The firm has a market cap of $23.70 billion, a PE ratio of 189.79, a P/E/G ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.27.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 3.74%.The company had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current 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.