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

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $95.2632.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PSTG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Pure Storage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.31, for a total value of $7,131,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 7,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $602,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 229,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,005.95. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 327,311 shares of company stock worth $27,896,100 over the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the third quarter worth $27,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 287.1% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Pure Storage by 186.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pure Storage Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of PSTG stock opened at $66.31 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.49, a P/E/G ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 1.27. Pure Storage has a fifty-two week low of $34.51 and a fifty-two week high of $100.59.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current 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.