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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HPE shares. Raymond James raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded 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.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock traded up $0.35 on Friday, hitting $21.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,661,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,123,096. The company has a market capitalization of $28.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.29. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1 year low of $14.47 and a 1 year high of $24.24.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP John F. Schultz sold 262,818 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.62, for a total transaction of $5,682,125.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 270,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,846,696.60. This trade represents a 49.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $163,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,771 shares in the company, valued at $163,191. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 578,359 shares of company stock worth $12,380,028. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $861,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 67.8% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 90,826 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,858,000 after buying an additional 36,704 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,202,752 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $65,528,000 after buying an additional 472,885 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 110.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 299,743 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,102,000 after acquiring an additional 157,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,915,000. 80.78% of the stock is currently 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.