Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Trading 5% Higher – Here’s Why

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) rose 5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $74.12 and last traded at $73.6480. Approximately 5,023,050 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 63% from the average daily volume of 3,083,628 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSTG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Pure Storage from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Lake Street Capital raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Tigress Financial set a $105.00 price objective on Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Pure Storage in a research report on Monday, November 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.26.

Pure Storage Trading Up 5.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $24.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 193.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.94 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.83.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 3.74%. Research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.42, for a total transaction of $528,978.42. Following the transaction, the executive owned 62,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,486,391.78. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.33, for a total value of $8,733,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,199,000. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 427,311 shares of company stock valued at $36,629,100. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 5.3% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,222 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Pure Storage by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 36,501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,059,000 after buying an additional 8,260 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $933,000. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 244 shares during the period. 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.