Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.63.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Pure Storage in a research report on Friday, March 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James downgraded Pure Storage from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,349,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock worth $15,266,704 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the first quarter worth $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Stock Down 4.6 %

NYSE PSTG traded down $2.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.46. 4,792,476 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,748,878. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 290.96, a P/E/G ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Pure Storage has a fifty-two week low of $22.14 and a fifty-two week high of $58.46. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.22.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The business had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

About Pure Storage

Pure Storage, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides data storage technologies, products, and services in the United States and internationally. The company's Purity software is shared across its products and provides enterprise-class data services, such as data reduction, data protection, and encryption, as well as storage protocols, including block, file, and object.