Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Shares in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,621 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HPE. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,999 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 11,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $266,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,615 shares in the company, valued at $1,118,145. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total transaction of $1,173,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 104,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,445,386.24. This trade represents a 32.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 332,166 shares of company stock valued at $7,300,629. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of HPE stock opened at $24.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.97 and its 200 day moving average is $20.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.20. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52-week low of $14.47 and a 52-week high of $24.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 27.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on HPE. Raymond James raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays increased their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

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.