Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $23.85 and last traded at $23.28, with a volume of 7899803 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.65.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.36.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Up 10.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company's 50-day moving average is $20.90 and its 200 day moving average is $19.90. The company has a market cap of $31.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.21.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.67 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $5,182,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,508,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,274,127.93. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 82,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,395,037. This trade represents a 26.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 16.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 4,887,662 shares of the technology company's stock worth $100,002,000 after buying an additional 673,801 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter worth $1,915,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 23,751 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 169.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 359,280 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,351,000 after purchasing an additional 225,719 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth about $507,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company 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.