Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Up to $18.88

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $18.88, but opened at $19.69. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $20.01, with a volume of 4,067,534 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HPE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Argus raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.31.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.19.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $493,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 82,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,395,037. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HPE. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 253.9% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,465 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 89.4% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,949 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.