Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Decreases Holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. $PSTG

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in Pure Storage, Inc. by 38.7%, selling 11,093 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with 17,541 shares valued at approximately $776,000.
• Barclays adjusted its price target for Pure Storage shares from $61.00 to $57.00, while Piper Sandler raised it to $66.00, reflecting differing sentiments among analysts regarding the stock's future performance.
• Pure Storage reported earnings of $0.29 per share, surpassing estimates, with revenue increasing 12.3% year-over-year to $778.49 million, indicating strong business growth despite selling pressures from insiders.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd trimmed its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 38.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,541 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 11,093 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Pure Storage by 5,233.3% in the first quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 35.6% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 910 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of PSTG stock traded down $1.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,927,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,691,886. The firm has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 150.54, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $56.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.74. Pure Storage, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.51 and a fifty-two week high of $73.67.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Pure Storage has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. FY 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PSTG shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Francis Murphy sold 6,959 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.17, for a total value of $390,887.03. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,706 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,886.02. The trade was a 26.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 $14,498,234.25. This represents a 7.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 446,794 shares of company stock valued at $26,641,913 over the last 90 days. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.