Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.63.

A number of research firms have commented on PSTG. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com cut Pure Storage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James cut Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, April 19th.

Pure Storage Trading Up 1.4 %

Pure Storage stock opened at $52.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 311.61, a PEG ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 1.15. Pure Storage has a fifty-two week low of $22.14 and a fifty-two week high of $58.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $50.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 380,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Pure Storage by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 464,256 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after buying an additional 76,421 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 11.4% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 687,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,492,000 after purchasing an additional 70,620 shares during the period. Weil Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 533,530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,026,000 after purchasing an additional 62,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

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.