Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Acquired by Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Key Points

• Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its stake in Pure Storage, Inc. by 59.8% during the first quarter, acquiring a total of 15,977 shares valued at approximately $698,000.
• Several hedge funds have recently adjusted their positions in Pure Storage, with notable increases from FNY Investment Advisers LLC and MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Pure Storage, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.95 for the stock.

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its position in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 59.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,977 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,977 shares during the quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the 1st quarter valued at about $258,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter worth approximately $2,636,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Pure Storage in the first quarter worth $284,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 18.6% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 80,900 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,581,000 after acquiring an additional 12,678 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 118,368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,240,000 after buying an additional 21,812 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PSTG shares. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Friday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $11,988,539.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 500,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,160,000. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 6,959 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.17, for a total value of $390,887.03. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,886.02. The trade was a 26.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 547,666 shares of company stock worth $31,887,830 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Trading Up 2.7%

PSTG traded up $1.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $55.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 998,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,753,060. Pure Storage, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.51 and a twelve month high of $73.67. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $55.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.07.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 3.93%. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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.