Analysts Set Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Price Target at $69.95

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.95.

PSTG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pure Storage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th.

Pure Storage Price Performance

PSTG stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $55.46. The company had a trading volume of 161,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,908,671. Pure Storage has a 1 year low of $34.51 and a 1 year high of $73.67. The company has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 150.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.15.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $778.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.45, for a total value of $1,253,225.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 261,465 shares in the company, valued at $14,498,234.25. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 801,959 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,709,887.59. The trade was a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,684 shares of company stock valued at $7,713,802 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PSTG. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 55.9% during 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. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 5,233.3% during the 1st quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently 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.