Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $72.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.15.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of PSTG stock traded down $1.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $48.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,354,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,677,456. Pure Storage has a twelve month low of $31.00 and a twelve month high of $70.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.41 and a 200-day moving average of $56.87. The stock has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.45, a P/E/G ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.10. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $756.59 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $4,994,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,970,000. This trade represents a 16.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 20,647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $1,063,320.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 75,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,913,588. This trade represents a 21.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 454,542 shares of company stock worth $24,775,030 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 19.5% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,957 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter worth approximately $860,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter worth approximately $260,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 255,485 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,283,000 after purchasing an additional 8,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,789,480 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,652,735,000 after purchasing an additional 495,183 shares in the last quarter. 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.