Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Up 4.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) shot up 4.7% on Thursday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $100.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Pure Storage traded as high as $72.33 and last traded at $72.12. 10,668,797 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 250% from the average session volume of 3,047,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.85.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on PSTG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Pure Storage from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Monday, November 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.33, for a total transaction of $8,733,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,199,000. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 9,091 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total value of $771,916.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 107,353 shares in the company, valued at $9,115,343.23. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 327,311 shares of company stock worth $29,498,100 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 118,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,240,000 after buying an additional 21,812 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 275,796 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,209,000 after acquiring an additional 32,611 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the second quarter worth about $242,000. Michael S. Ryan Inc. acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the second quarter worth about $254,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the second quarter valued at about $359,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $88.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 175.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.27.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter. On average, analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. 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.