Smithfield Trust Co Buys 4,000 Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 20.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,979 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% in the 2nd 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 period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 224.5% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on HPE shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.21.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HPE opened at $21.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.25 and its 200 day moving average is $19.56. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52 week low of $14.47 and a 52 week 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 earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 37.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $493,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 82,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,395,037. The trade was a 26.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $163,170.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,771 shares in the company, valued at $163,191. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.