Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $1.89 Million in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 29,427 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,890,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 61.2% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 242.9% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth $25,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pure Storage during the first quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.76, for a total value of $6,176,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 700,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,232,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total transaction of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.76, for a total transaction of $6,176,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 700,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,232,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 324,177 shares of company stock worth $18,863,083. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE PSTG opened at $49.60 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.18. The company has a market capitalization of $16.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 177.14, a P/E/G ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.00 and a 1 year high of $70.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PSTG. Bank of America increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Pure Storage from $64.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Pure Storage from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.95.

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.