Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Gap Down to $65.51

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $65.51, but opened at $61.00. Pure Storage shares last traded at $61.78, with a volume of 804,687 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Pure Storage from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Northland Capmk lowered shares of Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.11.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a PE ratio of 220.07, a P/E/G ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.00.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The business 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. 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 that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 291,399 shares of company stock valued at $15,578,814 over the last three months. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by 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.