Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (HPE) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup has initiated coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), giving the stock a "buy" rating and a price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.74%.
• The technology company's stock recently increased by 1.0%, trading at $20.71, with a market capitalization of $27.17 billion.
• Insider transactions reveal that executives have sold a total of 128,590 shares of HPE stock valued at over $2.4 million in the last 90 days.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by analysts at Citigroup in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $25.00 price target on the technology company's stock. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 20.74% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.67.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HPE traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.71. The stock had a trading volume of 8,919,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,790,958. The company's 50-day moving average price is $19.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.52. The company has a market capitalization of $27.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a fifty-two week low of $11.97 and a fifty-two week high of $24.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The technology company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.51 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 4.60% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.54, for a total transaction of $616,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $871,450.58. This trade represents a 41.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $1,264,799.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 128,590 shares of company stock worth $2,436,000 over the last three months. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HPE. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,466,235 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $52,654,000 after buying an additional 643,015 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 15,423 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,003,921 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $21,434,000 after purchasing an additional 77,244 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,078,218 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,347,000 after purchasing an additional 174,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 292,735 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.