Pure Storage Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:PSTG)

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 5,286 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 23% compared to the average volume of 4,314 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PSTG. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.61.

Insider Activity

In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.42, for a total value of $528,978.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 62,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,486,391.78. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.93, for a total value of $230,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,257,266.99. This represents a 15.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 330,311 shares of company stock worth $29,728,890 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Pure Storage by 287.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 186.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Price Performance

PSTG stock traded up $4.61 on Tuesday, reaching $93.16. 3,347,305 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,901,244. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.62 billion, a PE ratio of 227.23, a PEG ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.24. Pure Storage has a 12 month low of $34.51 and a 12 month high of $100.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.04.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 11.34%. As a group, research analysts expect that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.