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

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.85.

PSTG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Northland Capmk lowered shares of Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $64.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 9,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total transaction of $586,140.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 115,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,857,451.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the 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 owns 900,000 shares in the company, valued at $53,550,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 328,995 shares of company stock valued at $19,175,193. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 61.2% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 4.8% during the second quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 4,542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 3.2% in the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 7,202 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Pure Storage by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,073 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pure Storage Trading Down 15.8 %

PSTG opened at $50.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Pure Storage has a fifty-two week low of $31.00 and a fifty-two week high of $70.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a PE ratio of 179.71, a P/E/G ratio of 6.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.05 and its 200 day moving average is $56.57.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The company had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $756.59 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Pure Storage will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Pure Storage

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.