Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 1,730,123 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 210.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,553,402 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,730,123 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.78% of Pure Storage worth $137,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PSTG. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 242.9% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Pure Storage in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Pure Storage by 174.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 741 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 40.9% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 754 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Pure Storage by 175.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 991 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pure Storage Price Performance

PSTG opened at $63.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.87 billion, a PE ratio of 167.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average is $54.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.84. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.32 and a 1 year high of $70.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $4,994,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,970,000. The trade was a 16.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of Pure Storage 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,862,874.48. This trade represents a 20.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 454,542 shares of company stock worth $25,154,030 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSTG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised Pure Storage from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $56.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.10.

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.