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

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 6,474 call options on the company. Thisisanincreaseof158% compared to the typical volume of 2,507 call options.

Pure Storage Stock Up 32.4%

NYSE PSTG opened at $80.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 196.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 1.07. Pure Storage has a 52-week low of $34.51 and a 52-week high of $80.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.47.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The technology company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $845.78 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. Pure Storage has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 95,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.08, for a total value of $5,725,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,032,000. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 6,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.17, for a total transaction of $390,887.03. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,886.02. This trade represents a 26.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 542,094 shares of company stock valued at $32,367,537 in the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 11.8% during the second quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 4.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,790 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 40.0% during the second quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 49.0% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 611 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 2.6% during the second quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 8,001 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PSTG shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.39.

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.