Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

HPE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of 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 firm has a market capitalization of $28.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.25. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,771 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,905. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $2,445,386.24. This trade represents a 32.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 582,166 shares of company stock valued at $12,483,129. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.