Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,935 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,380 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,349,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,349,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 286,581 shares of company stock worth $15,266,704. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Pure Storage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Raymond James lowered Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.63.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of PSTG stock opened at $52.97 on Friday. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.14 and a 1-year high of $58.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $50.86 and its 200 day moving average is $41.75. The company has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 311.61, a PEG ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 2.17%. The company had revenue of $789.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.31 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.