Blue Trust Inc. Has $75,000 Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 70.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,224 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,942 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $75,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PSTG. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Pure Storage by 210.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,553,402 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $137,628,000 after buying an additional 1,730,123 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 4,063,776 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $204,163,000 after acquiring an additional 747,034 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,262,666 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $515,596,000 after acquiring an additional 626,427 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter worth $20,470,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,153,797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,469,487,000 after acquiring an additional 368,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of Pure Storage stock opened at $65.14 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 171.43, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.32 and a 52 week high of $73.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total value of $570,258.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 72,927 shares in the company, valued at $4,675,349.97. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.58, for a total value of $1,229,875.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 262,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,142,827.52. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 137,178 shares of company stock worth $8,871,746 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PSTG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Pure Storage from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.95.

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.