Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Down 0.6% After Insider Selling

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) shares traded down 0.6% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $48.90 and last traded at $49.17. 450,236 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,610,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.46.

Specifically, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on PSTG shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,073 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth $25,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 53.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,380 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 6.8% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 8,313 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 10,331 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.