Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG)

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $66.00 price target on the technology company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price suggests a potential upside of 20.02% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.53.

Pure Storage Trading Up 3.5 %

PSTG traded up $1.85 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.99. The company had a trading volume of 3,911,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,789,419. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Pure Storage has a 52 week low of $22.14 and a 52 week high of $58.46. The stock has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 323.47, a PEG ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.34.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $784.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In related news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total transaction of $2,012,461.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at $20,389,852.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Pure Storage in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage in the third quarter valued at $28,000. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Company Profile

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.