Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 35,517 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 72.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,771 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 35,517 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Pure Storage by 55.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 650 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Pure Storage by 157.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 713 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Pure Storage by 180.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 740 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PSTG. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Pure Storage from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Francis Murphy sold 11,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $619,330.42. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,930 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,000.90. The trade was a 33.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,977 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $285,429.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 90,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,691,022.93. The trade was a 7.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 119,083 shares of company stock worth $6,150,676. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Price Performance

NYSE:PSTG traded down $2.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.58. The company had a trading volume of 3,681,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,966,175. The company has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a PE ratio of 135.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.18. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.51 and a 52 week high of $73.67.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The business had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS 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.