Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Acquires 5,977 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

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 stake in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 59.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PSTG. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 9,201 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,556 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,931,000 after purchasing an additional 18,306 shares during the period. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at about $546,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,696 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 434,479 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,690,000 after purchasing an additional 94,417 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PSTG. Barclays lowered their price objective on Pure Storage from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.95.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

NYSE:PSTG traded down $4.98 during trading hours 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. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.51 and a 52 week high of $73.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a PE ratio of 147.41, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 1.07.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 3.93%. The company's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Francis Murphy sold 11,234 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 21,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000.90. The trade was a 33.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.45, for a total value of $1,253,225.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 261,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,498,234.25. This represents a 7.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 547,666 shares of company stock worth $31,887,830. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.