Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 298,671 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 721,020 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 298,671 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $36,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 242.9% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the third quarter worth $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 40.9% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 754 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 175.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PSTG shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Barclays increased their price target on Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up from $59.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.32, for a total transaction of $1,258,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,862,874.48. The trade was a 20.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.55, for a total transaction of $6,555,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,316,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,611,127.10. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 353,958 shares of company stock valued at $20,225,932 in the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

NYSE PSTG opened at $63.80 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $55.46 and its 200-day moving average is $56.95. The firm has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 167.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.13. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.32 and a 12-month high of $70.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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.