Pure Storage Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:PSTG)

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 5,286 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 23% compared to the average daily volume of 4,314 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $83.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial set a $105.00 price objective on Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Pure Storage from $93.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 7,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $602,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 229,307 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,005.95. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,051 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.42, for a total transaction of $528,978.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 62,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,486,391.78. The trade was a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 327,311 shares of company stock valued at $29,498,100. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 22.6% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 118,368 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,240,000 after buying an additional 21,812 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew 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 worth $12,209,000 after acquiring an additional 32,611 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter valued at about $242,000. Michael S. Ryan Inc. purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter valued at about $254,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 2nd quarter valued at about $359,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of PSTG stock opened at $68.94 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.29. Pure Storage has a 52-week low of $34.51 and a 52-week high of $100.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 168.15, a P/E/G ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.27.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share 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 for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current 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.