Needham Investment Management LLC Buys New Shares in Pure Storage, Inc. $PSTG

Key Points

• Needham Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage, Inc. by purchasing 20,000 shares valued at approximately $885,000 during the first quarter.
• Various hedge funds have recently shown interest in Pure Storage, with significant increases in holdings, including a 5,233.3% boost from FNY Investment Advisers LLC during the first quarter.
• Brokerages have revised their price targets for Pure Storage, with Morgan Stanley increasing its target from $60 to $72 and Raymond James Financial raising their target from $76 to $88, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.

Needham Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 20,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $885,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pure Storage by 25.9% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,075,944 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $401,793,000 after buying an additional 1,868,782 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Pure Storage by 2.8% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,541,445 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $156,780,000 after purchasing an additional 96,731 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 0.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,911,591 shares of the technology company's stock worth $128,896,000 after acquiring an additional 23,531 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 3.0% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,010,210 shares of the technology company's stock worth $88,992,000 after acquiring an additional 58,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 6.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,461,500 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,701,000 after acquiring an additional 85,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

NYSE PSTG traded up $1.76 on Thursday, hitting $82.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,389,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,878,813. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.51 and a 52-week high of $83.32. The company has a market capitalization of $27.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 202.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.74 and a 200-day moving average of $54.16.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The technology company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $845.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pure Storage news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.93, for a total value of $230,790.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,257,266.99. This represents a 15.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 6,959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.17, for a total transaction of $390,887.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,886.02. This trade represents a 26.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 551,360 shares of company stock worth $33,317,922. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSTG has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $57.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.39.

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.