First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,692,175 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 658,117 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.58% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise worth $164,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HPE. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 23,639 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 12,294 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 4,229 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,285,342 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,766,000 after acquiring an additional 178,516 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 76,144 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Finally, Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $325,000. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Daiwa America cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 6,409 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.19, for a total transaction of $84,534.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of HPE traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $16.21. 18,825,677 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,446,357. The company has a market capitalization of $21.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1-year low of $11.97 and a 1-year high of $24.66. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $16.52 and a 200 day moving average of $19.79.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.37%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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.