Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Grows Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 170.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 175,422 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 110,614 shares during the period. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of Pure Storage worth $7,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Pure Storage in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of PSTG traded down $2.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.58. 3,681,172 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,966,175. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.18. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.51 and a 52-week high of $73.67. The firm has a market cap of $16.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,977 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were 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. This represents a 7.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 11,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $619,330.42. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000.90. The trade was a 33.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,083 shares of company stock worth $6,150,676 over the last 90 days. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on PSTG shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.95.

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.