Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 4,592 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 19.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,695 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $1,270,000 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 business. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Pure Storage by 55.9% during the 1st 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. bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 157.4% during the 4th 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. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PSTG. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Bank of America decreased their target price on Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Pure Storage from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.95.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PSTG opened at $55.29 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $48.16 and its 200 day moving average is $56.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.51 and a 1 year high of $73.67.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 4.22%. The company's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total value of $5,201,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 801,959 shares in the company, valued at $41,709,887.59. This represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $285,429.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 90,223 shares in the company, valued at $3,691,022.93. The trade was a 7.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 107,849 shares of company stock valued at $5,531,346. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

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.

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