Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $22.00 to $25.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the technology company's stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on HPE. Bank of America raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.36.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Up 10.6 %

HPE stock traded up $2.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.95. The stock had a trading volume of 37,723,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,814,675. The firm has a market cap of $31.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50-day moving average price is $20.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.85. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $14.47 and a 12-month high of $24.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's payout ratio is 27.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,395,037. This represents a 26.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,191. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 426,012 shares of company stock valued at $8,599,617 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter worth $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company's stock.

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.