Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Saturday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $14.93 and last traded at $15.82, with a volume of 81923511 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.96.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on HPE. Raymond James upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $27.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 11,577 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 48,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,118,145. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly 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. Insiders sold 324,395 shares of company stock valued at $7,121,896 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 11.9 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.37%.

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.