AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 52.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 917,804 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 314,164 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $58,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 61.2% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 242.9% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth about $27,000. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PSTG shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Pure Storage from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.95.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

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

Pure Storage Stock Down 2.0 %

PSTG opened at $49.44 on Friday. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.00 and a 12 month high of $70.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 176.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.87 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $756.59 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 17.41%. On average, research analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current 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.