Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading Down 4.4% After Insider Selling

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s share price fell 4.4% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $49.33 and last traded at $49.52. 1,159,200 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 4,615,409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.82.

Specifically, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PSTG. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, March 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James cut shares of Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 290.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the first quarter worth $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at $28,000. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

About Pure Storage

Pure Storage, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides data storage technologies, products, and services in the United States and internationally. The company's Purity software is shared across its products and provides enterprise-class data services, such as data reduction, data protection, and encryption, as well as storage protocols, including block, file, and object.