Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company $HPE Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Key Points

• Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its HPE stake by 23.4% in the third quarter, selling 542,941 shares; it still held about 1.78 million shares worth $113.8 million.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on HPE, with an average price target of $65.44, though recent ratings and targets were mixed.
• HPE reported quarterly EPS of $1.11, topping the $0.93 consensus, while revenue rose 33.7% year over year to $12.21 billion.

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Free Report) by 23.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,781,760 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 542,941 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.13% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise worth $113,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the second quarter worth approximately $1,027,139,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter worth $773,225,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at $512,721,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 47.2% in the 1st quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 27,421,735 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $652,912,000 after purchasing an additional 8,790,757 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter valued at $322,718,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on HPE. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $74.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Argus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Friday, September 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Barclays cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $83.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.44.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

HPE opened at $47.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $63.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $59.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.52. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company has a 1 year low of $19.84 and a 1 year high of $73.56.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The technology company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $12.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.97 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.200-1.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.1425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gary Reiner sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.91, for a total transaction of $967,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,703,247.52. This trade represents a 20.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.44, for a total value of $15,110,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,432,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $86,573,832.92. The trade was a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 585,899 shares of company stock valued at $37,270,329 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is a global information technology company that provides products and services for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its offerings span servers and computing systems, data storage, networking, hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence and edge computing.

HPE sells systems such as HPE ProLiant servers and HPE Alletra storage, along with networking products through HPE Aruba Networking. Its HPE GreenLake platform provides cloud and IT services through a flexible, consumption-based model.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HPE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.