Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Boosts Stock Holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,220 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 210.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,553,402 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $137,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730,123 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $70,971,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 4,063,776 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $204,163,000 after acquiring an additional 747,034 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Pure Storage by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,262,666 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $515,596,000 after acquiring an additional 626,427 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 3rd quarter valued at $20,470,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE PSTG opened at $48.21 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.51. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.76 and a 12-month high of $73.67. The firm has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.86, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pure Storage

In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 262,144 shares in the company, valued at $16,142,827.52. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total transaction of $570,258.45. Following the sale, the executive now owns 72,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,349.97. The trade was a 10.87 % 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 Profile

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.