Short Interest in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Decreases By 23.6%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was the target of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,010,000 shares, a decline of 23.6% from the August 15th total of 10,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PSTG traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,189,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,901,073. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.10. The company has a market capitalization of $15.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 1.11. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $31.00 and a fifty-two week high of $70.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PSTG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.95.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 9,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total transaction of $586,140.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 115,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,857,451.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 9,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total transaction of $586,140.92. Following the sale, the executive now owns 115,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,857,451.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total transaction of $5,239,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 800,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 324,177 shares of company stock valued at $18,863,083 in the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the second quarter valued at about $721,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $988,000. Sycomore Asset Management bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,259,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 8.0% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 60,275 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,870,000 after acquiring an additional 4,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 19.3% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,561 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. 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.