Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock Price Down 4.4% After Insider Selling

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) fell 4.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $49.33 and last traded at $49.52. 1,159,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 4,615,409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.82.

Specifically, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total transaction of $1,526,815.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 138,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,200,794.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total value of $1,526,815.62. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 138,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,200,794.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Andrew William Fraser Brown sold 20,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.31, for a total transaction of $1,075,702.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,364. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 271,295 shares of company stock worth $14,459,604. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PSTG. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.63.

Pure Storage Stock Down 4.7 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.93 and a 200-day moving average of $41.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 291.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 1.15.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 121.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 21,660 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 11,891 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $233,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $596,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 43,894 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 0.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,035,914 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,582,000 after acquiring an additional 6,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Company Profile

Pure Storage, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides data storage technologies, products, and services in the United States and internationally. The company's Purity software is shared across its products and provides enterprise-class data services, such as data reduction, data protection, and encryption, as well as storage protocols, including block, file, and object.