Trajan Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)

Key Points

• Trajan Wealth LLC acquired 313,826 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, valued at approximately $4.84 million, in the first quarter.
• Analysts have upgraded their target prices for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with Morgan Stanley raising it from $14.00 to $22.00, contributing to an average target price of $22.87 among analysts.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.38, surpassing analysts' expectations, and had a 5.9% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Trajan Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 313,826 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,842,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 23,639 shares of the technology company's stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,420 shares of the technology company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 71,024 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 31,437 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.0% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 70,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HPE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Friday, July 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.87.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

HPE stock traded down $0.17 on Friday, reaching $21.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,998,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,715,392. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company has a 52 week low of $11.97 and a 52 week high of $24.66. The company has a market capitalization of $27.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.53%.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $871,450.58. This represents a 41.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 128,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,436,000 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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.