Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.11.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PSTG shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Pure Storage from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group cut Pure Storage from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and increased their price target for the company from $44.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th.

Pure Storage Stock Down 4.5 %

NYSE:PSTG opened at $54.29 on Monday. Pure Storage has a 1 year low of $31.00 and a 1 year high of $70.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 193.89, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $63.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.21.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $693.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $681.37 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 3.19%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pure Storage news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total value of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Pure Storage news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total value of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total value of $312,110.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,299,560.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,114 shares of company stock valued at $7,174,052. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 72.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 399,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,642,000 after purchasing an additional 167,550 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 242.9% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Pure Storage by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,592 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Pure Storage by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 934,752 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,020,000 after acquiring an additional 101,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Pure Storage by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,867 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. 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.