Brokerages Set Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Price Target at $21.46

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

HPE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Up 1.5 %

HPE opened at $21.39 on Friday. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a twelve month low of $14.47 and a twelve month high of $22.82. The firm has a market cap of $27.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.50.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 6.39%. The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $5,182,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,508,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,274,127.93. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Fidelma Russo sold 55,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.99, for a total value of $1,117,600.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HPE. Capital Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.2% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 41,269 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.5% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 111,617 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 6.4% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,665 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 35,349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

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.