Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six 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 company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

HPE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Raymond James raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John F. Schultz sold 262,818 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.62, for a total transaction of $5,682,125.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 270,430 shares in the company, valued at $5,846,696.60. This represents a 49.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $178,733.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 61,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,905. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 332,166 shares of company stock worth $7,300,629 in the last ninety days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HPE. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

HPE opened at $21.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52-week low of $14.47 and a 52-week high of $24.66. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $21.95 and its 200-day moving average is $20.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.37%.

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.