ING Groep NV Buys 513,541 Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) by 309.6%, acquiring a total of 679,408 shares worth approximately $10.48 million in the first quarter.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise recently reported $7.63 billion in revenue for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and achieved an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38, beating the expected $0.33.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $22.67 for HPE, with a notable upgrade from Bank of America raising their target price from $23.00 to $24.00.

ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Free Report) by 309.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 679,408 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 513,541 shares during the period. ING Groep NV owned 0.05% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise worth $10,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,184,240 shares of the technology company's stock worth $345,534,000 after buying an additional 3,208,424 shares during the period. Slate Path Capital LP increased its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 12,689,164 shares of the technology company's stock worth $270,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,924,039 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,692,175 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $164,228,000 after acquiring an additional 658,117 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,677,528 shares of the technology company's stock worth $87,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,897,034 shares of the technology company's stock worth $104,552,000 after acquiring an additional 951,516 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.54, for a total value of $616,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,427 shares in the company, valued at $871,450.58. The trade was a 41.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $1,264,799.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 128,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,436,000. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of HPE traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $20.37. The company had a trading volume of 16,208,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,003,968. The firm has a market cap of $26.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $19.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.40. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company has a 52-week low of $11.97 and a 52-week high of $24.66.

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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's payout ratio is 52.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Thursday, July 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.87.

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.