Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Sold by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP reduced its holdings in Pure Storage by 10.1%, now owning approximately 1.56 million shares worth about $68.97 million.
• In addition to Westfield, several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Pure Storage, with Invesco Ltd. boosting its investment by 18.8% during the last quarter.
• Analyst ratings show a consensus of "Moderate Buy" for Pure Storage, with price targets ranging from $57.00 to $69.95 across various research reports.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP trimmed its position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,557,874 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 175,792 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned about 0.48% of Pure Storage worth $68,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 5,233.3% during the first quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 35.6% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 910 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSTG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $66.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Pure Storage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $11,988,539.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 500,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,160,000. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 261,465 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 547,666 shares of company stock worth $31,887,830. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Pure Storage stock traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $58.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,767,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,726,634. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.51 and a 1 year high of $73.67. The firm has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 158.49, a P/E/G ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.50.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Pure Storage 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.