Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $21.00. The stock had previously closed at $18.77, but opened at $17.15. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $17.25, with a volume of 4,620,106 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on HPE. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. 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 report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.09.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, CEO Gerri Gold sold 22,784 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.67, for a total transaction of $493,729.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,945.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, SVP Kirt P. Karros sold 30,686 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.49, for a total value of $628,756.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gerri Gold sold 22,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.67, for a total value of $493,729.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,945.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 90,141 shares of company stock worth $1,874,608. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 14,953.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 23,189,645 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $490,925,000 after acquiring an additional 23,035,594 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3,228.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 8,825,249 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $186,831,000 after purchasing an additional 8,560,086 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,853,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,869,655,000 after purchasing an additional 5,777,901 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 336.7% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,269,603 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $90,387,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth about $51,384,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 5.1 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.45. The company has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.96%.

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.