Brokerages Set Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Price Target at $51.63

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.63.

PSTG has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,349,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 286,581 shares of company stock worth $15,266,704. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Pure Storage by 19.7% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 464,256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 76,421 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 11.4% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 687,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $24,492,000 after purchasing an additional 70,620 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Pure Storage by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 533,530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,026,000 after purchasing an additional 62,274 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

PSTG opened at $50.64 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.56. Pure Storage has a 1 year low of $22.14 and a 1 year high of $58.46. The company has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

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