Hodges Capital Management Inc. Sells 209,042 Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company $HPE

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company by 27.8%, owning 542,022 shares worth approximately $8.36 million after selling 209,042 shares in the first quarter.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, representing a 2.1% dividend yield, to be paid on October 17th.
• Analyst ratings for HPE have improved, with price targets lifted by several firms, including Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Free Report) by 27.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 542,022 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 209,042 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $8,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 86.5% in the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,902 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 27,327 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 1st quarter valued at about $15,663,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,456 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 1,211,774 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $18,698,000 after purchasing an additional 14,368 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.54, for a total transaction of $616,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $871,450.58. This trade represents a 41.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 461,924 shares of company stock worth $10,110,183. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HPE traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $24.76. 20,682,178 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,501,828. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.59 and a 200-day moving average of $18.49. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company has a twelve month low of $11.97 and a twelve month high of $25.10. The company has a market capitalization of $32.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HPE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.87.

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.