Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Short Interest Up 25.3% in September

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,040,000 shares, an increase of 25.3% from the August 31st total of 8,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Pure Storage Trading Up 1.6 %

PSTG traded up $0.79 during trading on Monday, hitting $50.23. 3,764,041 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,869,884. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 179.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 1.11. Pure Storage has a 12-month low of $31.00 and a 12-month high of $70.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.26 and a 200 day moving average of $56.88.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.59 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSTG has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $24,970,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Pure Storage news, CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.32, for a total value of $1,258,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,862,874.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $4,994,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 500,000 shares in the company, valued at $24,970,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 458,072 shares of company stock worth $25,565,792 in the last quarter. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,168,335 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,666,000 after acquiring an additional 28,086 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,675,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,514,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Pure Storage by 284.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 55,801 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 41,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at $709,000. 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.