Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Raised to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has upgraded Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• Analysts from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Guggenheim have increased their price targets for Pure Storage, with Guggenheim setting a target as high as $93.00.
• The company reported a 12.7% increase in revenue year-over-year, surpassing analysts' expectations with earnings of $0.43 per share for the last quarter.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on PSTG. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $76.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.11.

Pure Storage Stock Down 3.8%

Pure Storage stock traded down $3.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.48. 9,351,858 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,529,062. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 188.99, a PEG ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.20. Pure Storage has a fifty-two week low of $34.51 and a fifty-two week high of $80.68. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $58.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.41.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The technology company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $861.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $845.78 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 4.15%.The firm's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Pure Storage has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.45, for a total transaction of $1,253,225.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 261,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,498,234.25. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $11,988,539.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 500,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,160,000. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 542,094 shares of company stock worth $32,367,537. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,268,006 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,915,572,000 after purchasing an additional 308,738 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 25.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,868,782 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,273,696 shares of the technology company's stock worth $417,830,000 after acquiring an additional 123,320 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 112.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,612,300 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the second quarter worth approximately $225,203,000. Institutional investors 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.