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

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was up 4.7% during mid-day trading 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. Approximately 10,668,797 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 250% from the average daily volume of 3,047,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.85.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Susquehanna set a $105.00 price target on Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Pure Storage in a research note on Monday, November 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Northland Securities set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Thirteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 7,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $602,151.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 229,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,005.95. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 9,091 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $771,916.81. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 107,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 327,311 shares of company stock worth $29,498,100 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 287.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pure Storage Trading Down 2.5%

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.43 and its 200-day moving average is $71.39. The stock has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 185.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.27.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released 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 net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.