Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Grows Holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 66.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 775,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 310,000 shares during the quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $27,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PSTG. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Pure Storage by 51.7% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,784 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Pure Storage

In other news, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total value of $1,981,593.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,015,150.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 37,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.54, for a total value of $2,012,461.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,389,852.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roxanne Taylor sold 36,860 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.76, for a total transaction of $1,981,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,015,150.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PSTG shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Pure Storage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays raised their price target on Pure Storage from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup started coverage on Pure Storage in a research report on Friday, March 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.53.

Pure Storage Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:PSTG traded down $0.57 on Wednesday, hitting $52.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,864,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,682,610. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 313.61, a PEG ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.92. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.14 and a 1-year high of $58.46.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $789.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.31 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 12.60%. Pure Storage’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pure Storage Profile

Pure Storage, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides data storage technologies, products, and services in the United States and internationally. The company's Purity software is shared across its products and provides enterprise-class data services, such as data reduction, data protection, and encryption, as well as storage protocols, including block, file, and object.