Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Given New $77.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $80.00 to $77.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on PSTG. Barclays boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research 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, Pure Storage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.20.

Pure Storage Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE PSTG opened at $52.42 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $65.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.20. The company has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09. Pure Storage has a 12 month low of $44.76 and a 12 month high of $73.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.55, for a total transaction of $6,555,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,316,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $479,611,127.10. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 8,311 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value 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 approximately $4,207,050.96. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 137,178 shares of company stock valued at $8,871,746. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 644 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently 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.