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

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $62.44, but opened at $55.18. Pure Storage shares last traded at $53.82, with a volume of 1,419,197 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth $216,690,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at $210,906,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 1,725.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,525,208 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $155,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386,864 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Pure Storage by 210.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,553,402 shares of the technology company's stock worth $137,628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,748,553 shares of the technology company's stock worth $413,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366,458 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pure Storage Trading Down 5.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's fifty day moving average is $65.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.19.

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.