Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Receives $70.70 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.40.

PSTG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 price target (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total transaction of $5,201,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 801,959 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,709,887.59. This trade represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 872 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.51, for a total value of $44,916.72. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 89,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,470.01. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,849 shares of company stock worth $5,531,346 in the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Pure Storage by 5,233.3% during the 1st quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of PSTG stock traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.69. The company had a trading volume of 7,687,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,093,502. Pure Storage has a twelve month low of $34.51 and a twelve month high of $73.67. The company has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $47.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.89.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 4.22%. Pure Storage's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.