OFI Invest Asset Management Acquires Shares of 1,686,768 Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,686,768 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,778,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HPE. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Tandem Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HPE. Citigroup raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $27.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.21.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP John F. Schultz sold 262,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.62, for a total value of $5,682,125.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 270,430 shares in the company, valued at $5,846,696.60. This represents a 49.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total value of $1,173,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,445,386.24. The trade was a 32.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 324,395 shares of company stock worth $7,121,896 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

HPE opened at $15.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.47 and its 200 day moving average is $20.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $20.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $14.93 and a 12-month high of $24.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 25.37%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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.