Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Stock Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in Pure Storage, Inc. by 72.7%, owning 120,363 shares valued at approximately $5.33 million.
• Institutional investors currently own 83.42% of Pure Storage's stock, with multiple firms such as Geode Capital Management and Baird Financial Group significantly increasing their holdings.
• Wall Street analysts have generally positive sentiments, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.95 for Pure Storage shares.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 72.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,363 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 50,651 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Pure Storage were worth $5,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 9,635 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in Pure Storage by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 5,775 shares of the technology company's stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,885 shares of the technology company's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 55.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 650 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $309,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 75,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,923,592.25. This trade represents a 7.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 500,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,160,000. This trade represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 547,666 shares of company stock valued at $31,887,830. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pure Storage Trading Down 8.4%

PSTG stock traded down $4.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $54.54. 2,976,585 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,040,113. The firm's 50 day moving average is $55.55 and its 200 day moving average is $54.62. Pure Storage, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.51 and a twelve month high of $73.67. The firm has a market cap of $17.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.07.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PSTG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.