Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Up 4.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s share price rose 4.1% on Thursday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $72.00 to $93.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Pure Storage traded as high as $55.64 and last traded at $55.62. Approximately 863,229 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 3,749,427 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.42.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PSTG. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 9,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total transaction of $586,140.92. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 115,601 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,451.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $586,140.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 115,601 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,451.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.76, for a total value of $6,176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 700,000 shares in the company, valued at $43,232,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 464,423 shares of company stock worth $24,868,171. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,789,480 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,652,735,000 after purchasing an additional 495,183 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Pure Storage by 56.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,327,873 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 0.7% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,357,962 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $151,405,000 after purchasing an additional 15,747 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 12.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,234,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,470,000 after purchasing an additional 249,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,303,863 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $83,728,000 after buying an additional 235,356 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $18.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 196.64, a PEG ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.11 and its 200 day moving average is $56.86.

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