Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock Price Down 1.1% on Insider Selling

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s share price traded down 1.1% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $70.02 and last traded at $70.2310. 3,856,947 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 3,075,300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.04.

Specifically, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.31, for a total transaction of $7,131,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Pure Storage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.26.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.68 and a 200 day moving average of $71.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 193.81, a P/E/G ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 1.27.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 8.3% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,598 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC increased its position in Pure Storage by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 14,750 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Pure Storage by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 43,756 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,667,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its stake in Pure Storage by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,673 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is 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.