Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 435 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its stake in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,533 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Pure Storage were worth $1,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter worth $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Pure Storage by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 242.9% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pure Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSTG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Northland Capmk cut Pure Storage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Pure Storage from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.95.

Insider Activity at Pure Storage

In other news, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total transaction of $911,941.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,082,961.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of Pure Storage stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total transaction of $5,239,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 800,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO P. Kevan Krysler sold 14,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total transaction of $911,941.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 518,623 shares in the company, valued at $33,082,961.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 324,177 shares of company stock valued at $18,863,083. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Price Performance

NYSE PSTG opened at $50.72 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $55.66 and its 200-day moving average is $57.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a PE ratio of 181.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.11. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.00 and a 12-month high of $70.41.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.59 million. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 17.41%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.