Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Coverage Initiated at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Lake Street Capital lowered their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.15.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of Pure Storage stock opened at $49.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.68, a P/E/G ratio of 7.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Pure Storage has a twelve month low of $31.00 and a twelve month high of $70.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.31 and its 200 day moving average is $56.95.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 4.53%. The company had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.59 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pure Storage will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $4,994,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 500,000 shares in the company, valued at $24,970,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $4,994,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 500,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,970,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 20,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $1,063,320.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 75,992 shares in the company, valued at $3,913,588. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 454,542 shares of company stock worth $24,775,030. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Pure Storage by 61.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 242.9% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, City State Bank lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 175.0% in the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.