Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $22.13, but opened at $21.12. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $21.21, with a volume of 1,058,399 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HPE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Raymond James raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.21.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $27.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.70.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $5,182,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,508,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,274,127.93. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $493,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,395,037. The trade was a 26.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.