Norges Bank Invests $216.69 Million in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,527,428 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,690,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSTG. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Pure Storage in the fourth quarter valued at about $210,906,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Pure Storage by 1,725.3% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,525,208 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,124,000 after buying an additional 2,386,864 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Pure Storage by 210.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Pure Storage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,971,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pure Storage by 262.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 893,410 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,882,000 after acquiring an additional 646,875 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ajay Singh sold 19,972 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 262,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,142,827.52. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

NYSE:PSTG opened at $46.00 on Monday. Pure Storage, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.76 and a 52 week high of $73.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.50. The firm has a market cap of $15.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.04, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PSTG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Pure Storage from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Pure Storage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Pure Storage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Pure Storage from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.20.

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.