Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading 1.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) shares traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $65.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Pure Storage traded as high as $54.30 and last traded at $53.93. 884,078 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 4,743,952 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.14.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PSTG. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, March 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.53.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. LM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 314.37, a PEG ratio of 6.90 and a beta of 1.15. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.