Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Given "Buy" Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 price objective on the technology company's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Pure Storage from $76.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.40.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PSTG traded down $0.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $53.51. The stock had a trading volume of 5,960,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,086,173. Pure Storage has a fifty-two week low of $34.51 and a fifty-two week high of $73.67. The business's 50-day moving average price is $47.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.92. The company has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.82, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 4.22%. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Pure Storage's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total value of $5,201,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 801,959 shares in the company, valued at $41,709,887.59. The trade was a 11.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 872 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 89,351 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,470.01. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 107,849 shares of company stock valued at $5,531,346. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. Barclays PLC increased its position in Pure Storage by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,911 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,921,000 after acquiring an additional 27,345 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Pure Storage by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 64,692 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 24,232 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $296,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Pure Storage by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,634 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Pure Storage by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 39,523 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,428,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Company Profile

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.