Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 3% – Time to Sell?

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s share price was down 3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $52.84 and last traded at $52.98. Approximately 89,920 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 98% from the average daily volume of 3,624,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Pure Storage from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.95.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.59 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 17.41%. On average, analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.67, for a total value of $450,709.65. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 94,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,578.82. This trade represents a 8.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $4,994,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 500,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,970,000. The trade was a 16.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 354,542 shares of company stock worth $18,599,030 over the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PSTG. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 61.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 23.3% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 3.0% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 4,542 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 49.1% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 644 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.