Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.63.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, March 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, April 19th.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In other news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Pure Storage by 19.7% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 464,256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after acquiring an additional 76,421 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Pure Storage by 11.4% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 687,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $24,492,000 after acquiring an additional 70,620 shares during the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. bought a new position in Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at $433,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at $514,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Pure Storage by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 533,530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,026,000 after acquiring an additional 62,274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:PSTG opened at $50.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.83. Pure Storage has a fifty-two week low of $22.14 and a fifty-two week high of $58.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.56.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 12.60%. Pure Storage’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Analysts predict that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.