Citigroup Boosts Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Price Target to $65.00

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.98% from the stock’s previous close.

PSTG has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut Pure Storage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Pure Storage from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Pure Storage from $76.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.70.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of PSTG stock opened at $56.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.70. Pure Storage has a one year low of $34.51 and a one year high of $73.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total transaction of $5,201,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 801,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,709,887.59. This represents a 11.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.51, for a total value of $44,916.72. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 89,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,602,470.01. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,849 shares of company stock valued at $5,531,346 in the last quarter. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 55.9% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 650 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

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.