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

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.00.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HPE shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $5,182,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,508,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,274,127.93. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $178,733.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 582,166 shares of company stock worth $12,483,129 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth about $861,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 90,826 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 36,704 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,253,035 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,559 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 17.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,202,752 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,528,000 after buying an additional 472,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 110.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 299,743 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,102,000 after buying an additional 157,561 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

HPE opened at $22.03 on Friday. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52-week low of $14.47 and a 52-week high of $24.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.25. The company has a market cap of $28.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. 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.