Pure Storage’s (PSTG) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $100.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.15% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PSTG. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays set a $77.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.42.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of PSTG stock opened at $95.10 on Wednesday. Pure Storage has a 1-year low of $34.51 and a 1-year high of $100.59. The firm has a market cap of $31.25 billion, a PE ratio of 231.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.31.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The technology company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pure Storage will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 7,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $602,151.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 229,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,005.95. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.42, for a total transaction of $528,978.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 62,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,486,391.78. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 330,311 shares of company stock valued at $29,728,890 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Pure Storage by 8.3% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,598 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 468 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 14,750 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 43,756 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its stake in Pure Storage by 10.3% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,673 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. 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.