Versor Investments LP Takes Position in Pure Storage, Inc. $PSTG

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP has acquired a new stake in Pure Storage, Inc., purchasing 16,900 shares valued at approximately $748,000 during the first quarter of the year.
• Insider trading activity includes John Francis Murphy selling 11,234 shares, resulting in a 33.87% decrease in his position, while Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares, reflecting a 7.96% decrease.
• The stock of Pure Storage, which currently has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, reported a quarterly EPS of $0.29, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a revenue increase of 12.3% compared to the previous year.

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,900 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $748,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 12,455 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in Pure Storage by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 321,111 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its position in Pure Storage by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 17,112 shares of the technology company's stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in Pure Storage by 160.6% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 230,470 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,203,000 after acquiring an additional 142,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its position in Pure Storage by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 90,864 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,023,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Francis Murphy sold 11,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was 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. This represents a 33.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.45, for a total value of $1,253,225.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 261,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,498,234.25. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 446,794 shares of company stock valued at $26,641,913 over the last 90 days. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PSTG opened at $58.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.43, a P/E/G ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50-day moving average is $56.26 and its 200-day moving average is $53.72. 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 3.93%. The firm's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PSTG shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pure Storage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.21.

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.

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