Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Brokerages recommend Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy,” with ten analysts rating it as a hold, six as buy, and two as strong buy.
• Morgan Stanley and Bank of America recently raised their target prices for HPE, indicating positive sentiment with target prices set at $22.00 and $24.00 respectively.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise reported a better-than-expected earnings per share of $0.38, exceeding the analyst consensus estimate of $0.33, and its revenue increased 5.9% year-over-year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.8667.

Several analysts recently issued reports on HPE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. KeyCorp started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "sector weight" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was 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 $871,450.58. The trade was a 41.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,264,799.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 128,064 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,731,000 after acquiring an additional 3,498 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 20,800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 291,260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,218,000 after acquiring an additional 19,364 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter valued at $303,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 186,644 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,985,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE HPE opened at $21.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52 week low of $11.97 and a 52 week high of $24.66. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $19.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.24. The company has a market capitalization of $27.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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