Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $26.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $23.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on HPE. UBS Group upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James upgraded 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 research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.36.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

NYSE HPE opened at $23.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52-week low of $14.47 and a 52-week high of $24.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.90 and a 200-day moving average of $19.92.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is 27.37%.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,395,037. This represents a 26.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 83,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.72, for a total transaction of $1,643,346.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,758,641 shares in the company, valued at $34,680,400.52. This trade represents a 4.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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.