Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,901 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,802 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HPE. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth $512,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 932,921 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,841,000 after purchasing an additional 108,971 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 716,330 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,163,000 after purchasing an additional 79,528 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 132,180 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 26,193 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,379 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, CEO Gerri Gold sold 22,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.67, for a total transaction of $493,729.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,945.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, CEO Gerri Gold sold 22,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.67, for a total transaction of $493,729.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,945.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total transaction of $975,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 150,948 shares in the company, valued at $2,944,995.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,141 shares of company stock worth $2,850,108. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.08.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

NYSE:HPE traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.76. 7,954,784 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,662,543. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.86. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1 year low of $14.47 and a 1 year high of $22.82. The company has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.19.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The firm had revenue of $7.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.96%.

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.