Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) had its target price raised by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $62.00 to $72.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.03% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.70.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of PSTG stock opened at $62.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.05 and a 200 day moving average of $56.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.71, a PEG ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.13. Pure Storage has a 52 week low of $34.32 and a 52 week high of $70.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.01, for a total value of $5,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,404,000. This trade represents a 20.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 8,311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $516,611.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,207,050.96. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 362,853 shares of company stock valued at $20,676,642 in the last quarter. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 242.9% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 174.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 741 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Pure Storage by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 754 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 175.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by 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.