US Bancorp DE Reduces Stock Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE reduced its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 4.7%, selling 6,080 shares and bringing their total ownership to 123,321 shares valued at approximately $5.46 million.
• Insiders, including John Colgrove, sold a significant amount of stock recently, with Colgrove selling 198,749 shares for nearly $12 million, resulting in a 28.44% decrease in his ownership.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a positive outlook on PSTG, with 14 analysts issuing buy ratings, contributing to an average target price of approximately $69.95 for the stock.

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,321 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,080 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $5,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 55.9% during the 1st 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 raised 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Pure Storage by 35.6% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 910 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $1,253,225.45. Following the sale, the insider owned 261,465 shares in the company, valued at $14,498,234.25. This represents a 7.96% 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, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $309,900.00. Following the sale, the executive owned 75,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,923,592.25. This represents a 7.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 547,666 shares of company stock valued at $31,887,830 over the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pure Storage Trading Up 0.7%

PSTG traded up $0.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $57.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,571,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,736,995. The company has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 156.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day moving average is $55.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.50. Pure Storage, Inc. has a one year low of $34.51 and a one year high of $73.67.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PSTG shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.95.

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.