Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading 1.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s share price traded up 1.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $79.59 and last traded at $78.49. 3,786,039 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 31% from the average session volume of 2,883,708 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PSTG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price target on Pure Storage from $93.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $81.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.61.

Pure Storage Stock Up 1.6%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a PE ratio of 191.44, a P/E/G ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.24.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 4.15%.The business had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.42, for a total value of $528,978.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 62,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,486,391.78. This trade represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.93, for a total value of $230,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,257,266.99. The trade was a 15.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 443,111 shares of company stock worth $36,793,439 in the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter valued at $225,203,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Pure Storage by 786.9% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,027,610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $337,554,000 after purchasing an additional 3,573,493 shares during the last quarter. Atreides Management LP bought a new position in Pure Storage during the second quarter worth about $204,552,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 112.9% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,926,836 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $283,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pure Storage by 25.9% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,075,944 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $401,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,782 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.