Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) Price Target Raised to $80.00 at Citigroup

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.59% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PSTG. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Pure Storage from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.95.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

PSTG stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $66.34. 952,426 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,245,552. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.64 billion, a PE ratio of 174.58, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09. Pure Storage has a one year low of $40.32 and a one year high of $73.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mona Chu sold 8,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $516,611.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,207,050.96. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.55, for a total value of $6,555,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,316,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,611,127.10. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 137,178 shares of company stock valued at $8,871,746. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pure Storage

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.