Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading 0.3% Higher

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was up 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $52.55 and last traded at $52.49. Approximately 488,640 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 4,642,182 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.53.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.77 and its 200-day moving average is $41.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 308.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.15.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Pure Storage news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,349,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 242,012 shares of company stock valued at $12,932,788 over the last 90 days. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 464,256 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after acquiring an additional 76,421 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 11.4% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 687,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $24,492,000 after buying an additional 70,620 shares during the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at about $433,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at about $514,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 306,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,943,000 after buying an additional 30,642 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Pure Storage

Pure Storage, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides data storage technologies, products, and services in the United States and internationally. The company's Purity software is shared across its products and provides enterprise-class data services, such as data reduction, data protection, and encryption, as well as storage protocols, including block, file, and object.