Cerity Partners LLC Buys Shares of 6,616 Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,616 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Pure Storage by 5,725.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,614,837 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587,116 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 61.5% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399,759 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $121,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,285 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 1,025.3% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,269,927 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,079 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its position in Pure Storage by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 4,068,672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $144,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Pure Storage by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 46,793,394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,666,781,000 after acquiring an additional 663,465 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pure Storage Price Performance

NYSE:PSTG opened at $52.44 on Tuesday. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.14 and a 12-month high of $58.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 308.49, a P/E/G ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The business had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total value of $807,100.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 507,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,813,107.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Andrew William Fraser Brown sold 20,564 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.31, for a total transaction of $1,075,702.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,364. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 15,286 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total transaction of $807,100.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 507,824 shares in the company, valued at $26,813,107.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 286,581 shares of company stock valued at $15,266,704 over the last ninety days. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSTG has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Friday, March 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.63.

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.