KBC Group NV Acquires 2,574 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,097 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,574 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $1,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Pure Storage by 5,233.3% during the 1st 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. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Pure Storage by 157.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 713 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE PSTG opened at $56.80 on Friday. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.51 and a 12 month high of $73.67. The stock has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.50, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.64.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PSTG has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.95.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 6,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $285,429.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 90,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,022.93. This trade represents a 7.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total transaction of $5,201,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 801,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,709,887.59. This trade represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 125,083 shares of company stock valued at $6,460,576. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.