Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Pure Storage's stock reached a new 52-week high of $81.21, reflecting a strong trading day with 25,571 shares exchanged.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Pure Storage, with most recent adjustments ranging from $55 to $80, resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• In its latest earnings report, Pure Storage beat estimates with a Q2 EPS of $0.43 and revenue of $861 million, marking a 12.7% year-over-year increase.

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $80.99 and last traded at $81.21, with a volume of 25571 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $57.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Pure Storage has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.39.

Pure Storage Stock Down 0.1%

The business's 50-day moving average price is $62.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 200.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 1.20.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The technology company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $845.78 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The firm's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. Pure Storage has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mona Chu sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.51, for a total value of $1,338,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 138,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,627,162.49. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 95,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.08, for a total value of $5,725,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $24,032,000. This represents a 19.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 551,360 shares of company stock valued at $33,317,922 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 0.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,268,006 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,915,572,000 after buying an additional 308,738 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 25.9% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,075,944 shares of the technology company's stock worth $401,793,000 after buying an additional 1,868,782 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,273,696 shares of the technology company's stock worth $417,830,000 after buying an additional 123,320 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 112.9% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,926,836 shares of the technology company's stock worth $283,687,000 after buying an additional 2,612,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the second quarter worth approximately $225,203,000. 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.