Essex LLC Buys New Shares in Pure Storage, Inc. $PSTG

Key Points

• Essex LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage, Inc. worth approximately $208,000, purchasing 3,620 shares in the 2nd quarter.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Pure Storage, with Piper Sandler setting a target of $92.00 and Citigroup raising their target from $70.00 to $81.00.
• Insider selling activity was noted, with CRO Dan Fitzsimons selling 6,051 shares and another insider, John Colgrove, selling 100,000 shares in September.

Essex LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,620 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PSTG. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 22.6% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 118,368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,240,000 after acquiring an additional 21,812 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 275,796 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,209,000 after purchasing an additional 32,611 shares during the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth $242,000. Michael S. Ryan Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth $254,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on PSTG shares. Piper Sandler set a $92.00 price target on Pure Storage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pure Storage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,051 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.42, for a total transaction of $528,978.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 62,759 shares in the company, valued at $5,486,391.78. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.33, for a total transaction of $8,733,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 300,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,199,000. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 643,111 shares of company stock worth $42,454,009 over the last quarter. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pure Storage Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE PSTG opened at $92.79 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.32. Pure Storage, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.51 and a twelve month high of $94.94. The stock has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 226.31, a P/E/G ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 1.22.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The technology company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $845.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Pure Storage has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Pure Storage 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.

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