Sargent Investment Group LLC Takes Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Sargent Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 8,767 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PSTG. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 210.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,553,402 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $137,628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730,123 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 22.5% during 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 buying an additional 747,034 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 6.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,262,666 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $515,596,000 after buying an additional 626,427 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the third quarter worth about $20,470,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 0.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,153,797 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,469,487,000 after purchasing an additional 368,643 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of Pure Storage stock opened at $68.27 on Wednesday. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.78 and a 1 year high of $73.67. The firm has a market cap of $22.27 billion, a PE ratio of 179.67, a P/E/G ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $72.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 262,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,142,827.52. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 8,311 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,178 shares of company stock worth $8,871,746 in the last quarter. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.