Graphene Investments SAS Sells 29,000 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Graphene Investments SAS lessened its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 32.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,700 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 29,000 shares during the quarter. Graphene Investments SAS’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $3,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Pure Storage in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 197.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PSTG traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,918,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,276,425. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.00 and a 12-month high of $70.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 225.54, a PEG ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.21 and a 200-day moving average of $50.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Pure Storage had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The business had revenue of $693.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $681.37 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,349,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mallun Yen sold 4,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.78, for a total value of $312,110.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,299,560.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott Dietzen sold 147,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $7,863,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,349,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 291,399 shares of company stock worth $15,578,814 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PSTG. StockNews.com raised Pure Storage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Northland Securities lowered shares of Pure Storage from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $58.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Northland Capmk downgraded shares of Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.