Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,935 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,380 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PSTG. Raymond James cut Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $52.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.63.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In other news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pure Storage Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:PSTG opened at $52.97 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.14 and a 12 month high of $58.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a PE ratio of 311.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.15.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The company had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.