Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Up 0.3%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s share price shot up 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $52.55 and last traded at $52.49. 488,640 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 4,642,182 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PSTG. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 290.96, a P/E/G ratio of 6.73 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $50.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.17.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the firm’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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the firm’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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total transaction of $807,100.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 507,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,813,107.20. 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. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted 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 during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 687,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,492,000 after acquiring an additional 70,620 shares during the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $433,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $514,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 306,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,943,000 after acquiring an additional 30,642 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pure Storage Company Profile

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.