Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Cut to “Sell” at UBS Group

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) was downgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, FinViz reports. They currently have a $47.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $44.00. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 28.23% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Lake Street Capital raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $46.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.11.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

NYSE:PSTG opened at $65.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 233.89, a P/E/G ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.11. Pure Storage has a fifty-two week low of $31.00 and a fifty-two week high of $70.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.00.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $693.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $681.37 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 15.34%. Analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total value of $312,110.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,299,560.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Pure Storage news, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total transaction of $312,110.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,299,560.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 291,399 shares of company stock valued at $15,578,814. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pure Storage Company Profile

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.