Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock Price Up 1.9%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) shot up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $53.36 and last traded at $53.31. 3,654,101 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 30% from the average session volume of 2,804,948 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSTG has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.53.

Pure Storage Stock 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 50-day moving average of $49.58 and a 200-day moving average of $40.92. The firm has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 313.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. LM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pure Storage

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.