National Pension Service Grows Stock Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

National Pension Service grew its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 591,759 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,600 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.18% of Pure Storage worth $36,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PSTG. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Pure Storage by 210.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,553,402 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $137,628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730,123 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in Pure Storage by 22.5% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 4,063,776 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $204,163,000 after purchasing an additional 747,034 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Pure Storage by 6.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,262,666 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $515,596,000 after purchasing an additional 626,427 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage in the third quarter worth $20,470,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew 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 buying an additional 368,643 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mona Chu sold 8,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $516,611.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,207,050.96. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.58, for a total value 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 approximately $16,142,827.52. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 137,178 shares of company stock valued at $8,871,746. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Pure Storage from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Pure Storage from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.20.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PSTG opened at $52.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a PE ratio of 137.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.21. Pure Storage, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.76 and a fifty-two week high of $73.67.

Pure Storage Company 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.