Insider Selling: Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) CAO Sells 25,000 Shares of Stock

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.32, for a total transaction of $1,258,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,862,874.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Pure Storage Price Performance

PSTG stock traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $49.44. 2,879,232 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,870,450. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.00 and a 1-year high of $70.41. The company has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.18, a PEG ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 1.11.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 4.53%. The company had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $756.59 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $64.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reduced their target price on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 61.2% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Pure Storage by 242.9% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at $27,000. 83.42% of the stock is 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.