Maven Securities LTD Reduces Holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Maven Securities LTD lowered its position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 69.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,467 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,820 shares during the period. Maven Securities LTD’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,789,480 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,652,735,000 after buying an additional 495,183 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,028,716 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,664,000 after purchasing an additional 160,877 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Pure Storage by 56.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,696,390 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $237,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,873 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Pure Storage by 0.7% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,357,962 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $151,405,000 after purchasing an additional 15,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 12.6% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,234,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,470,000 after purchasing an additional 249,761 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Pure Storage from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.32, for a total value of $1,258,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,639 shares in the company, valued at $4,862,874.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Pure Storage news, CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.32, for a total value of $1,258,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,639 shares in the company, valued at $4,862,874.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.50, for a total value of $5,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 900,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,550,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 458,072 shares of company stock worth $25,565,792. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

NYSE:PSTG opened at $49.92 on Thursday. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.00 and a 52 week high of $70.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $16.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.11.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.59 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 4.53%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.