Hewlett Packard Enterprise Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HPE)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 18,451 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 19% compared to the typical volume of 15,510 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup began coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $5,182,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,508,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,274,127.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,508,641 shares in the company, valued at $31,274,127.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 83,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.72, for a total transaction of $1,643,346.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,758,641 shares in the company, valued at $34,680,400.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 224.5% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 45.5% during the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,999 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HPE opened at $19.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1-year low of $14.47 and a 1-year high of $22.82.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.67 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 6.39%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 37.96%.

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.