Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) Shares Sold by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Acadian Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 31.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,935,110 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,340,142 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $152,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,789,480 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,652,735,000 after purchasing an additional 495,183 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 2.9% during the first quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 581,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,288,000 after purchasing an additional 16,625 shares during the period. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at $244,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 3.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 255,485 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,283,000 after purchasing an additional 8,143 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at $3,018,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pure Storage Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE PSTG traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.10. 3,317,097 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,974,642. Pure Storage, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.00 and a fifty-two week high of $70.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.22 billion, a PE ratio of 211.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.83.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 3.19%. The firm had revenue of $693.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $681.37 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In other news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total transaction of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total transaction of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total value of $312,110.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,299,560.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PSTG. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com raised Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $63.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group lowered Pure Storage from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $47.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $64.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.11.

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.