Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading Up 4.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) was up 4.7% during trading on Thursday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $100.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Pure Storage traded as high as $72.33 and last traded at $72.12. Approximately 10,668,797 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 250% from the average daily volume of 3,047,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.85.

PSTG has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $81.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $93.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Pure Storage from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mona Chu sold 9,091 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $771,916.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 107,353 shares in the company, valued at $9,115,343.23. This trade represents a 7.81% 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, insider Ajay Singh sold 7,014 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $602,151.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 229,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,005.95. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 327,311 shares of company stock valued at $29,498,100. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Pure Storage by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,187 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Pure Storage by 22.6% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 118,368 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,240,000 after purchasing an additional 21,812 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter worth $284,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 29,481 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,305,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter worth about $287,000. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 189.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.27.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.