Analysts Set Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Target Price at $66.95

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.95.

Several analysts have commented on PSTG shares. Northland Capmk cut shares of Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen reduced their target price 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. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price (down from $68.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, August 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.50, for a total value of $5,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 900,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,550,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Pure Storage news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total value of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.50, for a total transaction of $5,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 900,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,550,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 424,177 shares of company stock valued at $23,857,083 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PSTG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,452,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 56.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,696,390 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $237,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,873 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 4,095.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,121,344 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,618 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 835.2% in the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,078,454 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,458,000 after purchasing an additional 963,140 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,294,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,115,955,000 after purchasing an additional 567,358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of PSTG stock opened at $50.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 179.25, a PEG ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.11. Pure Storage has a 52 week low of $31.00 and a 52 week high of $70.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.97.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.59 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 17.41%. Analysts predict that Pure Storage will post 0.43 EPS 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.