SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 73,181 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 3,506.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,268 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 73,181 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $3,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 170.7% in the first quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 175,422 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,766,000 after purchasing an additional 110,614 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 30.5% in the first quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the technology company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 1,419 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 59.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,118 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,908 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 32.7% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Pure Storage by 41.1% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,545 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of Pure Storage stock traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,442,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,974,127. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $49.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.06 billion, a PE ratio of 141.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.05. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.51 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Pure Storage's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,977 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $285,429.07. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 11,234 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $619,330.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,209,000.90. This represents a 33.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 119,083 shares of company stock valued at $6,150,676. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSTG has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective 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 given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.