Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG)

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 6,406 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 16% compared to the average volume of 5,530 call options.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of Pure Storage stock opened at $36.60 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.61. Pure Storage has a 12 month low of $22.14 and a 12 month high of $39.19. The firm has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,220.41, a P/E/G ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 31st. The technology company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.04. Pure Storage had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The company had revenue of $589.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.83 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Pure Storage from $34.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price target on Pure Storage from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $36.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mona Chu sold 5,387 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.49, for a total transaction of $207,345.63. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 147,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,665,266.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 40,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.44, for a total transaction of $1,481,941.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 160,119 shares in the company, valued at $5,834,736.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 5,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.49, for a total value of $207,345.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 147,188 shares in the company, valued at $5,665,266.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,320 shares of company stock valued at $5,453,744. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 98,387.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 19,091,746 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $702,958,000 after purchasing an additional 19,072,361 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 11.8% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 45,388,246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,157,854,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800,883 shares during the period. Atreides Management LP raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 92.5% during the first quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 7,261,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $185,250,000 after purchasing an additional 3,489,559 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,143,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Pure Storage by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,091,077 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $359,464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807,489 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently 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.