Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Up to $18.15

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $18.15, but opened at $18.85. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $18.35, with a volume of 3,091,741 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HPE. Barclays decreased their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.91.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $23.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $17.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.58.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.09 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The company’s revenue was down 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.86%.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 18,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.96, for a total transaction of $310,758.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,541 shares in the company, valued at $263,575.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HPE. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 253.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth about $33,000. American National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 89.4% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 180.1% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in 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.