Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 97,963 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 763 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $2,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 253.9% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,465 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, American National Bank raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 89.4% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,949 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HPE shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.08.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock opened at $18.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.69 and its 200 day moving average is $18.62. The company has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.19. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a twelve month low of $14.47 and a twelve month high of $22.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.67 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 37.96%.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,395,037. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.