Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Earns Outperform Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $70.00 target price on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $50.00.

PSTG has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James cut shares of Pure Storage from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, April 19th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, March 15th. They issued a buy rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $66.15.

Pure Storage Price Performance

NYSE:PSTG opened at $63.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 372.26, a PEG ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 1.15. Pure Storage has a one year low of $27.98 and a one year high of $68.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total value of $1,526,815.62. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 29,283 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total transaction of $1,526,815.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 138,105 shares in the company, valued at $7,200,794.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $182,000. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 12,286 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 83,186 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,963,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 364.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 106,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 83,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $285,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.