Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Cut to “Neutral” at Daiwa Capital Markets

Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $16.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on HPE. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.27.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Up 6.2 %

HPE opened at $15.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.58. The company has a market capitalization of $20.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.25, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52 week low of $14.64 and a 52 week high of $24.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 25.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 11,577 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $266,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,615 shares in the company, valued at $1,118,145. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $292,959,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3,537.0% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,788,154 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $127,571,000 after acquiring an additional 5,629,006 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter valued at $119,067,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth $105,185,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 18.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 27,383,858 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $560,274,000 after purchasing an additional 4,194,213 shares during the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.