Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Up 2.5%

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) rose 2.5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $54.00 and last traded at $53.55. Approximately 662,817 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,382,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSTG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Pure Storage in a report on Friday, March 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Pure Storage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.63.

Pure Storage Trading Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 314.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.76.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total transaction of $1,526,815.62. Following the sale, the executive now owns 138,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,200,794.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total value of $1,526,815.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 138,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,200,794.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total value of $807,100.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 507,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,813,107.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 286,581 shares of company stock worth $15,266,704 in the last ninety days. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PSTG. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,073 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 295.6% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 633 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 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.