Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 85.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 110,834 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 51,127 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $6,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Pure Storage by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 67,232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Pure Storage by 49.1% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 644 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in Pure Storage by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,917 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 39,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 8,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSTG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total value of $570,258.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 72,927 shares in the company, valued at $4,675,349.97. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.58, for a total transaction of $1,229,875.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 262,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,142,827.52. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE PSTG opened at $50.81 on Friday. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.76 and a 52 week high of $73.67. The stock has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.25.

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.