Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.79.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HPE shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HPE opened at $21.57 on Wednesday. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52-week low of $14.47 and a 52-week high of $24.24. The company has a market capitalization of $28.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.11 and a 200-day moving average of $20.10.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 27.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total transaction of $1,173,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 104,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,445,386.24. This trade represents a 32.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John F. Schultz sold 262,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.62, for a total value of $5,682,125.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 270,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,696.60. This represents a 49.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 717,601 shares of company stock worth $15,140,976. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. Capital Investment Counsel Inc lifted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.2% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 41,269 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 111,617 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,665 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 35,349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.