Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Given New $72.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $62.00 to $72.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised Pure Storage from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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 $65.77 on Tuesday. Pure Storage has a 52 week low of $34.32 and a 52 week high of $70.41. The company has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 173.08, a PEG ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other news, CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.32, for a total transaction of $1,258,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,862,874.48. This represents a 20.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $24,970,000. The trade was a 16.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 462,853 shares of company stock valued at $25,670,642 over the last ninety days. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 242.9% during the second 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 position in Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. 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 during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 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.