Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $47.00. The stock had previously closed at $53.54, but opened at $62.66. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Pure Storage shares last traded at $65.71, with a volume of 3,884,364 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $59.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James lowered their price target on Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Pure Storage in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total value of $4,994,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,970,000. This represents a 16.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.32, for a total value of $1,258,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,862,874.48. This represents a 20.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 354,542 shares of company stock valued at $18,599,030 in the last quarter. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pure Storage

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sycomore Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth $2,259,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 144,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,235,000 after purchasing an additional 14,659 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,153,797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,469,487,000 after purchasing an additional 368,643 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Pure Storage by 92.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 193,563 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,570,000 after buying an additional 92,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,890,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pure Storage Stock Up 21.9 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.49 and a 200-day moving average of $56.78. The company has a market capitalization of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 163.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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.