Insider Selling: Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Insider Sells 198,749 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of Pure Storage at an average price of $60.32, reducing his ownership by 28.44%.
• Pure Storage reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29 for the last quarter, beating expectations and showing a 12.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Several research firms have updated their price targets on Pure Storage, with an average target of $69.95 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) insider John Colgrove sold 198,749 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider owned 500,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,160,000. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

John Colgrove also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 30th, John Colgrove sold 187,740 shares of Pure Storage stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total transaction of $11,268,154.80.
• On Tuesday, July 29th, John Colgrove sold 13,511 shares of Pure Storage stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.09, for a total value of $811,875.99.
• On Monday, May 12th, John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total value of $5,201,000.00.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PSTG traded down $4.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.54. 2,976,585 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,040,113. The company's 50-day moving average is $55.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.69. The company has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.41, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 1.07. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $778.49 million for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pure Storage

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 9,635 shares of the technology company's stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 5,775 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 4.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,790 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 40.0% during the second quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 700 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PSTG shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Pure Storage from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.