Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $77.00 to $73.00. The stock had previously closed at $62.44, but opened at $55.18. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Pure Storage shares last traded at $53.82, with a volume of 1,419,197 shares.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PSTG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.20.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.58, for a total value of $1,229,875.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 262,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,142,827.52. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 8,311 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $516,611.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 67,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,207,050.96. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,178 shares of company stock valued at $8,871,746 over the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors raised its position in Pure Storage by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 9,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in Pure Storage by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 5,775 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,885 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 13,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 67,232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Trading Down 12.9 %

The company has a market cap of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.69, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $66.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.28.

Pure Storage Company Profile

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.