Essex LLC Invests $226,000 in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Essex LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 3,685 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 144,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,235,000 after purchasing an additional 14,659 shares during the period. TT International Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 1,160.1% during the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 73,085 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 67,285 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,153,797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,469,487,000 after purchasing an additional 368,643 shares in the last quarter. Asio Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $264,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Pure Storage by 92.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 193,563 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,570,000 after buying an additional 92,762 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pure Storage Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE PSTG opened at $69.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 181.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.09. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.78 and a 52 week high of $73.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.36.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total transaction of $570,258.45. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 72,927 shares in the company, valued at $4,675,349.97. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of the firm’s 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 137,178 shares of company stock worth $8,871,746. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PSTG shares. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $59.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $72.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.70.

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.