Royal Bank of Canada Raises Stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 50.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,118,679 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 373,505 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.34% of Pure Storage worth $68,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,925,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,899 shares of the technology company's stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 65,813 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,043,000 after purchasing an additional 23,076 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 37,601 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,206 shares of the technology company's stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pure Storage Stock Down 1.0%

PSTG stock traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.49. 2,770,050 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,085,157. The company has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 146.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.86. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.51 and a 52 week high of $73.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,977 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total transaction of $285,429.07. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 90,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,691,022.93. The trade was a 7.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total transaction of $5,201,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 801,959 shares in the company, valued at $41,709,887.59. This represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 107,849 shares of company stock worth $5,531,346. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.