Private Advisor Group LLC Has $912,000 Stock Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Key Points

• Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Pure Storage, Inc. by 76.8%, acquiring an additional 8,947 shares, totaling 20,597 shares valued at approximately $912,000.
• A significant portion of Pure Storage is owned by institutional investors, with 83.42% of the stock held by these entities, showcasing strong confidence in the company.
• Wall Street analysts have given Pure Storage a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price averaging $69.95, indicating positive outlook for the company's stock performance.

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 76.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,597 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,947 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Pure Storage by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,207,162 shares of the technology company's stock worth $442,736,000 after buying an additional 401,035 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,748,553 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $413,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366,458 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,921,392 shares of the technology company's stock worth $363,751,000 after acquiring an additional 174,449 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,162,081 shares of the technology company's stock worth $255,677,000 after acquiring an additional 657,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Pure Storage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSTG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $66.00 target price (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.95.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of PSTG traded down $3.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $55.70. The stock had a trading volume of 949,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,750,983. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.51 and a 12 month high of $73.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 150.65, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day moving average is $55.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.75.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company 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 firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Pure Storage's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.45, for a total value of $1,253,225.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 261,465 shares in the company, valued at $14,498,234.25. The trade was a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $11,988,539.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,160,000. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 547,666 shares of company stock worth $31,887,830 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

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.