Primecap Management Co. CA Lowers Stock Holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.2%, owning approximately 27.97 million shares valued at $431.56 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with Vanguard Group Inc. owning about 167.20 million shares after a 1.7% increase during the first quarter.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise's recent earnings beat estimates with a reported earnings per share of $0.38, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, yielding 2.6% annually.

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,968,950 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 933,450 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 2.13% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise worth $431,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 345.0% in the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $1,264,799.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,427 shares in the company, valued at $871,450.58. The trade was a 41.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 128,590 shares of company stock worth $2,436,000 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of HPE stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.84. The stock had a trading volume of 15,198,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,082,482. The business's fifty day moving average is $19.54 and its 200-day moving average is $18.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $27.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.37. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company has a 1-year low of $11.97 and a 1-year high of $24.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 4.60%. The company's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on HPE shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.87.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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.