Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading Up 1.3% – What’s Next?

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)’s share price was up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $89.87 and last traded at $88.5810. Approximately 2,223,484 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 2,864,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.48.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PSTG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $81.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group set a $110.00 target price on Pure Storage in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.56.

Pure Storage Stock Up 1.3%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a PE ratio of 216.06, a P/E/G ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.24.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 4.15%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.59, for a total value of $9,159,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,159,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 7,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $602,151.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 229,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,005.95. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 443,111 shares of company stock worth $36,793,439. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Pure Storage by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 910 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 53.1% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,741 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 2.2% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 162,454 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,192,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Pure Storage by 26.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 1,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Pure Storage by 25.3% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,017 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.