Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Downgraded to Sell at UBS Group

UBS Group downgraded shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $47.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $44.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on PSTG. Bank of America increased their price target on Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on Pure Storage from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a buy rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $69.11.

Pure Storage Trading Up 1.5 %

PSTG stock opened at $63.69 on Tuesday. Pure Storage has a 1-year low of $31.00 and a 1-year high of $70.41. The firm has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 227.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.48 and its 200-day moving average is $50.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 3.19%. The company had revenue of $693.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $681.37 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total value of $312,110.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,299,560.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total transaction of $312,110.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,299,560.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $7,863,030.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,349,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,951 shares of company stock valued at $11,584,759 in the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 19,548 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 4,918 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 753,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,839,000 after purchasing an additional 164,266 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth about $560,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,343,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

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.