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

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.11.

Several equities research analysts have commented on PSTG shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $63.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Northland Capmk lowered Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered Pure Storage from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th.

Pure Storage Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of Pure Storage stock opened at $54.29 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $63.04 and its 200 day moving average is $54.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Pure Storage has a 1 year low of $31.00 and a 1 year high of $70.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a PE ratio of 193.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.11.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The business had revenue of $693.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $681.37 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Pure Storage will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.50, for a total value of $5,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 900,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,550,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total transaction of $312,110.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,299,560.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.50, for a total value of $5,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 900,000 shares in the company, valued at $53,550,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 119,114 shares of company stock worth $7,174,052. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,789,480 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,652,735,000 after buying an additional 495,183 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,028,716 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,664,000 after acquiring an additional 160,877 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 56.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,696,390 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $237,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327,873 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,452,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 12.6% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,234,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,470,000 after acquiring an additional 249,761 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.