Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 5,116 Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,116 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $420,000. Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $251,000. Retireful LLC bought a new position in Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at $1,464,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Pure Storage in the fourth quarter worth $3,028,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,103 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 3,934 shares during the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In related news, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.58, for a total transaction of $1,229,875.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 262,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,142,827.52. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mona Chu sold 8,311 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $516,611.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,207,050.96. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 137,178 shares of company stock worth $8,871,746. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PSTG. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $72.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Pure Storage from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pure Storage has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.70.

Pure Storage Stock Down 0.3 %

Pure Storage stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.15. 2,097,778 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,965,734. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $61.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.87, a PEG ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 1.09. Pure Storage, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.78 and a fifty-two week high of $73.67.

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.