Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Stock Price

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) had its price target cut by Citigroup from $28.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.30% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on HPE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Friday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.41.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of HPE traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $22.17. 3,412,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,197,887. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.04. The company has a market capitalization of $29.45 billion, a PE ratio of -369.26, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a one year low of $11.97 and a one year high of $26.44.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 0.17%.The company had revenue of $9.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.570-0.610 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 50,061 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction of $1,186,445.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 26,905 shares in the company, valued at $637,648.50. The trade was a 65.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kirt P. Karros sold 36,460 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.61, for a total transaction of $897,280.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 18,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,298.85. The trade was a 66.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 585,537 shares of company stock valued at $14,255,864. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2,694.4% in the third quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,006 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 176.7% during the 3rd quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 126.7% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is an enterprise technology company that designs, develops and sells IT infrastructure, software and services for business and government customers. Its core offerings span servers, storage, networking, and related software, together with consulting, integration and support services aimed at modernizing and managing enterprise IT environments. HPE’s product portfolio includes systems for traditional data centers as well as solutions for high-performance computing, edge computing and telecommunications infrastructure.

A major focus for HPE is hybrid cloud and consumption-based IT.