Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Given New $57.00 Price Target at Barclays

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Barclays from $61.00 to $57.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the technology company's stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.52% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on PSTG. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.95.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PSTG traded down $0.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.51. 5,960,451 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,086,173. The company has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.82, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05. Pure Storage has a 1 year low of $34.51 and a 1 year high of $73.67. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.92.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The business had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total transaction of $5,201,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 801,959 shares in the company, valued at $41,709,887.59. This represents a 11.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,977 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $285,429.07. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 90,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,022.93. This trade represents a 7.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 107,849 shares of company stock valued at $5,531,346. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 650 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.