Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,534 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 491 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $1,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 67,232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 754 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,917 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 39,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $1,229,875.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 262,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,142,827.52. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 72,927 shares in the company, valued at $4,675,349.97. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PSTG. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $59.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pure Storage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.20.

Pure Storage Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of PSTG opened at $50.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.38. Pure Storage, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.76 and a twelve month high of $73.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 134.17, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09.

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.