Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Sold by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH has significantly reduced its stake in Pure Storage, Inc. by 76.2%, selling over 167,000 shares, which leaves it with about 52,308 shares valued at approximately $2.32 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Bank Pictet & Cie and LPL Financial, have increased their positions in Pure Storage recently, reflecting strong institutional interest as they collectively own over 83% of the company’s stock.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for Pure Storage, with JP Morgan reducing theirs from $75.00 to $70.00 while others, like Citigroup, increased theirs to $65.00, leading to a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $69.95.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lessened its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 76.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,308 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 167,341 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $2,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PSTG. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,566,374 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $157,652,000 after acquiring an additional 12,972 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Pure Storage by 7.7% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 11.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,339 shares of the technology company's stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 8.4% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,327 shares of the technology company's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 4.0% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 121,895 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,396,000 after purchasing an additional 4,687 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on PSTG shares. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $66.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.95.

Pure Storage Stock Down 8.4%

NYSE:PSTG traded down $4.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $54.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,976,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,040,113. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.69. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.51 and a 12-month high of $73.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 1.07.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Pure Storage's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $11,988,539.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,160,000. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 11,234 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $619,330.42. Following the sale, the director owned 21,930 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,000.90. The trade was a 33.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 547,666 shares of company stock valued at $31,887,830. Corporate insiders own 5.60% 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.