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

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.95.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James cut their price target on Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered Pure Storage from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th.

Pure Storage Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE PSTG opened at $50.72 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.02. Pure Storage has a 12 month low of $31.00 and a 12 month high of $70.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a PE ratio of 181.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 4.53%. The company had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $756.59 million. On average, analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.76, for a total value of $6,176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 700,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,232,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.76, for a total transaction of $6,176,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 700,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,232,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 9,881 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total value of $586,140.92. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 115,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,857,451.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 324,177 shares of company stock valued at $18,863,083 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Pure Storage by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,168,335 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,666,000 after purchasing an additional 28,086 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,235 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter worth about $592,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter worth about $1,675,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter worth about $13,514,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

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.