Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE – Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $18.00. The stock had previously closed at $15.23, but opened at $14.53. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $15.31, with a volume of 5,032,614 shares.
A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HPE. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $21.00) on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.
Insider Activity
In other news, CFO Jeremy Cox sold 1,773 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $30,016.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,351.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Phil Mottram sold 50,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.77, for a total value of $845,677.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,466 shares in the company, valued at $443,834.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeremy Cox sold 1,773 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $30,016.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,374 shares in the company, valued at $243,351.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 303,575 shares of company stock worth $4,989,141. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HPE. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth $31,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 90.2% in the second quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,910 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth $33,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 180.1% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance
The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.29.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.86%.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Profile
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company provides solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze, and act upon data seamlessly in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. It operates in six segments: Compute, HPC & AI, Storage, Intelligent Edge, Financial Services, and Corporate Investments and Other.