Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Sold by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. by 8.8% during the first quarter, owning around 0.27% of the company stock after selling 84,432 shares.
• Several large investors have shifted their stakes in Pure Storage, including MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increasing its shares by 55.9% during the same period.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Pure Storage with an average target price of $69.95, despite some recent reductions in target prices by other firms.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 873,267 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 84,432 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.27% of Pure Storage worth $38,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 55.9% during the first 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 during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Pure Storage by 5,233.3% in the first quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSTG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.21.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 261,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,498,234.25. This represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 6,959 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.17, for a total value of $390,887.03. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,886.02. The trade was a 26.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 446,794 shares of company stock valued at $26,641,913. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:PSTG traded down $1.23 on Monday, reaching $57.35. 1,487,061 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,011,985. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $55.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.01. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.51 and a 52 week high of $73.67.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 13.98% and a net margin of 3.93%. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.