Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Acquired by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. by 96.2% in the first quarter, owning 39,134 shares worth approximately $1.73 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently modified their positions in shares of Pure Storage, with 83.42% of the stock now owned by these investors.
• Analysts have varying price targets for Pure Storage, with Citigroup raising its price objective from $55.00 to $65.00, while the consensus target price stands at $69.95.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 96.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,134 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 19,193 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $1,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PSTG. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 650 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Pure Storage by 5,233.3% in the 1st quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Pure Storage by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 910 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, Director John Francis Murphy sold 11,234 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $619,330.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000.90. The trade was a 33.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 500,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,160,000. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 547,666 shares of company stock valued at $31,887,830. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on PSTG shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.95.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Pure Storage stock opened at $57.84 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $55.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.50. The company has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 156.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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