Natixis Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) by 44.4%, holding 629,312 shares worth approximately $9.7 million after selling 502,060 shares.
• Several hedge funds have increased their positions in HPE, with Northern Trust Corp growing its stake by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, now owning over 16 million shares valued at around $345.5 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for HPE, with Wells Fargo increasing theirs from $20.00 to $22.00 and Citigroup initiating coverage with a $25.00 target and a "buy" rating.

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Free Report) by 44.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 629,312 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 502,060 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $9,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 345.0% during 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

NYSE HPE traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,822,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,947,998. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company has a fifty-two week low of $11.97 and a fifty-two week high of $24.66. The stock has a market cap of $27.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50-day moving average is $19.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The technology company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The company 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. 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 payout ratio is 52.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $871,450.58. This represents a 41.42% decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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.