Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Price Target Increased to $60.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $48.00 to $60.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on PSTG. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Friday, March 15th. They set a buy rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Pure Storage from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $52.26.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of PSTG opened at $60.02 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 353.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.55. Pure Storage has a 12 month low of $24.20 and a 12 month high of $62.22.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Pure Storage will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,349,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,073 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,928,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. DecisionPoint Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 295.6% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 633 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Pure Storage in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.