Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Up 0.1%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) shares shot up 0.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $54.29 and last traded at $53.50. 568,929 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 4,700,941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PSTG. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Susquehanna raised their price target on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.53.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 313.61, a P/E/G ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.58 and a 200-day moving average of $40.92.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share 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 stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 1st quarter worth $73,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in Pure Storage by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,627 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. FCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Pure Storage by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 44,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Pure Storage by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 18,820 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pure Storage Company Profile

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.