HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 34.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,095 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,565 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $1,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nvwm LLC grew its holdings in Pure Storage by 23.3% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 644 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Pure Storage by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 754 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Pure Storage by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 7,202 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PSTG shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their price target on Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pure Storage news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.67, for a total transaction of $450,709.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 94,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,578.82. The trade was a 8.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.32, for a total transaction of $1,258,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,862,874.48. This represents a 20.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 454,542 shares of company stock valued at $25,154,030 over the last ninety days. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

Pure Storage stock opened at $63.70 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $20.87 billion, a PE ratio of 167.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.13. Pure Storage, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.32 and a twelve month high of $70.41.

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.