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

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.63.

PSTG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 11th. 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 report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 29th.

Pure Storage Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of Pure Storage stock opened at $49.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 290.94, a PEG ratio of 6.79 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 has a 1 year low of $22.14 and a 1 year high of $58.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $50.02 and a 200 day moving average of $41.17.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 507,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,813,107.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,389,852.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock worth $15,266,704. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 5.4% during the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 22,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth $521,000. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth $458,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth $1,675,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at $3,790,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.