Zacks Research Downgrades Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) to Hold

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on HPE. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.81.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

NYSE HPE opened at $24.55 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $11.97 and a 12-month high of $25.36. The company has a market capitalization of $32.39 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.52 and its 200-day moving average is $19.12.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 18th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 18th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.41%.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 166,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total value of $4,171,649.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,585,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,690,721.78. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maeve C. Culloty sold 3,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.12, for a total value of $93,898.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 543,738 shares of company stock valued at $12,922,932. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 126.7% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 74.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,611 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 345.0% in the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company 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.