Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires New Position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

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

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HPE. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,999 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HPE shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $178,733.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 61,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,419,905. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 directly owns 104,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,445,386.24. The trade was a 32.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 332,166 shares of company stock worth $7,300,629 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 0.3 %

HPE stock opened at $24.34 on Friday. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a one year low of $14.47 and a one year 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.97 and its 200 day moving average is $20.38. The firm has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.20.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.