Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Stock

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $62.00 to $75.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 19.85% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.10.

Pure Storage Stock Down 4.2 %

PSTG stock opened at $62.58 on Wednesday. Pure Storage has a 52-week low of $31.79 and a 52-week high of $70.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 164.69, a P/E/G ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total value of $4,994,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.67, for a total transaction of $450,709.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 94,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,578.82. This represents a 8.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 354,542 shares of company stock valued at $18,599,030 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

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.