Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,561,022 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,892 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $31,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HPE. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 278.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 93,853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after acquiring an additional 69,077 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 41,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 1st quarter worth $200,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,322,885 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,455,000 after acquiring an additional 475,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 30.7% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 219,376 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,890,000 after acquiring an additional 51,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of the business’s 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 owns 7,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,191. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $5,182,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,508,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,274,127.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HPE shares. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted 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. Loop Capital increased their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.46.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of HPE stock opened at $22.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $22.82. The firm has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $19.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.30.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 37.14%.

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.