Champlain Investment Partners LLC Sells 250,789 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,746,943 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 250,789 shares during the period. Pure Storage accounts for about 1.7% of Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned 1.75% of Pure Storage worth $288,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. Sycomore Asset Management bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the second quarter valued at $2,259,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Pure Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,890,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $721,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Pure Storage by 284.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 55,801 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 41,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Pure Storage by 182.5% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 216,808 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,262,000 after acquiring an additional 140,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.42% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PSTG opened at $51.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.70 and a 200 day moving average of $56.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.15, a P/E/G ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.10. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.00 and a 12 month high of $70.41.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Pure Storage had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $763.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $756.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PSTG. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $59.00 target price (down from $68.00) on shares of Pure Storage in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Pure Storage in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Pure Storage from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Pure Storage in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pure Storage news, insider John Colgrove sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total value of $4,994,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 500,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,970,000. The trade was a 16.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Dan Fitzsimons sold 8,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.67, for a total transaction of $450,709.65. Following the sale, the executive now owns 94,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,578.82. This trade represents a 8.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 354,542 shares of company stock worth $18,599,030 in the last ninety days. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pure Storage Company 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.