Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock Price Up 0.1%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s stock price shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $52.65 and last traded at $52.33. 729,283 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,680,966 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PSTG. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price 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, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.53.

Pure Storage Stock Up 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a PE ratio of 307.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 1.15. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.79.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of Pure Storage 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 380,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 19.7% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 464,256 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 76,421 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $24,492,000 after purchasing an additional 70,620 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the third quarter worth approximately $433,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Pure Storage by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 306,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,943,000 after buying an additional 30,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Pure Storage by 12.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,184,198 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,181,000 after buying an additional 126,795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Company Profile

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.