Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Given Outperform Rating at Wedbush

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by investment analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,RTT News reports. They currently have a $70.00 target price on the technology company's stock. Wedbush's price target would indicate a potential upside of 27.50% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on PSTG. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. 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. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.95.

Pure Storage Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of Pure Storage stock traded up $1.33 on Thursday, hitting $54.90. 1,030,919 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,001,062. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05. Pure Storage has a 1-year low of $34.51 and a 1-year high of $73.67.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total value of $5,201,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 801,959 shares of the company's stock, 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 through this link. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,977 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $285,429.07. Following the sale, the executive now owns 90,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,691,022.93. This represents a 7.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 107,849 shares of company stock worth $5,531,346 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Pure Storage by 9.4% during 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 last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 64,692 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 24,232 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $296,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,634 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 39,523 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,428,000 after purchasing 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.