Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

PSTG has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Friday, March 15th. They set a buy rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $51.63.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Pure Storage stock opened at $53.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 314.41, a P/E/G ratio of 6.78 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 has a 12-month low of $22.57 and a 12-month high of $58.46.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The company had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $7,863,030.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,349,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now 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 286,581 shares of company stock worth $15,266,704 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $115,452,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Pure Storage by 5,725.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,614,837 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587,116 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Pure Storage by 61.5% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399,759 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $121,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,285 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Pure Storage by 1,025.3% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,269,927 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,235,000 after buying an additional 1,157,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 4,095.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,121,344 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,299,000 after buying an additional 1,094,618 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.