Analysts Set Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Price Target at $72.70

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.70.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Pure Storage from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Pure Storage Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PSTG opened at $63.65 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $56.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.77. Pure Storage has a 1-year low of $34.32 and a 1-year high of $70.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 167.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total transaction of $570,258.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 72,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,675,349.97. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.01, for a total value of $5,101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,404,000. The trade was a 20.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 337,853 shares of company stock worth $19,538,191. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 71.8% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,359 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in Pure Storage by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Pure Storage by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,966 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 143.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 49,296 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,165,000 after purchasing an additional 29,040 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the second quarter worth approximately $267,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pure Storage

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.