Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading Up 0.3%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) shares traded up 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $53.33 and last traded at $52.70. 569,948 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 5,029,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, March 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.72.

Pure Storage Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock's fifty day moving average is $46.25 and its 200 day moving average is $39.20. The stock has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 305.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.15.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 19.7% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 464,256 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 76,421 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 11.4% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 687,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $24,492,000 after purchasing an additional 70,620 shares during the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the third quarter worth about $433,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 12.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,184,198 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,181,000 after purchasing an additional 126,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 238.9% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 77,008 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,743,000 after acquiring an additional 54,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company's stock.

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.