Citigroup Lowers Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Price Target to $63.00

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the technology company's stock. Citigroup's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 26.25% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Monday, August 26th. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $59.00 target price (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.95.

Pure Storage Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Pure Storage stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,491,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,667,397. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Pure Storage has a 12-month low of $31.00 and a 12-month high of $70.41. The firm has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 1.10.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $756.59 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pure Storage will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.67, for a total transaction of $450,709.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 94,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,785,578.82. The trade was a 8.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 500,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,970,000. This represents a 16.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 354,542 shares of company stock worth $18,599,030. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Pure Storage by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, City State Bank grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 175.0% during the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 550 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.