Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,534 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 491 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $1,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 49.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 644 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total transaction of $570,258.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 72,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,349.97. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.58, for a total transaction of $1,229,875.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 262,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,142,827.52. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Trading Up 5.0 %

PSTG opened at $50.99 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.38. The firm has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.17, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09. Pure Storage, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.76 and a twelve month high of $73.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSTG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pure Storage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Pure Storage from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.20.

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.