Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 189,600 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 5.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,245,505 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 189,600 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $208,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,890,000. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 16.0% during the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 9,874 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 27.3% during the second quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 7,035 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 22.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,303,863 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,728,000 after buying an additional 235,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OV Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the 2nd quarter worth $1,503,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total value of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 518,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total value of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total value of $5,239,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 800,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 324,177 shares of company stock valued at $18,863,083. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Shares of Pure Storage stock opened at $48.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.64, a P/E/G ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.21. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.00 and a 12 month high of $70.41.

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.