Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $31.94 Million Stock Position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,561,022 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,892 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $31,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 14,953.2% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 23,189,645 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $490,925,000 after purchasing an additional 23,035,594 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3,228.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 8,825,249 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $186,831,000 after buying an additional 8,560,086 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3,537.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,788,154 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $127,571,000 after acquiring an additional 5,629,006 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $105,185,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 336.7% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,269,603 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $90,387,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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 value 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 $163,191. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 83,334 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.72, for a total value of $1,643,346.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,758,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,680,400.52. This represents a 4.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 717,601 shares of company stock worth $15,140,976 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of HPE opened at $21.82 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.13 and its 200-day moving average is $20.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.21. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $24.24.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HPE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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 report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

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.