Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares hit a new 52-week high after Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $25 to $33, though it kept an equal weight rating. The stock traded as high as $35.55 and was last up sharply on the day.
• Several analysts have recently turned more positive on HPE, including Bank of America and Citigroup, both of which raised price targets and kept buy ratings. Overall, the stock currently has a Moderate Buy consensus rating.
• Recent company updates showed mixed signals: insiders have sold shares in the past few months, while HPE’s latest earnings beat EPS expectations and revenue rose 18.4% year over year. The company also maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.1425 per share.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $33.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Hewlett Packard Enterprise traded as high as $35.55 and last traded at $36.3130, with a volume of 862191 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.97.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $27.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Marie Myers sold 93,583 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $2,808,425.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 204,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,144,667.54. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 112,652 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $2,826,438.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,417,434.46. The trade was a 66.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 702,402 shares of company stock worth $18,440,171 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Essential Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.6% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 28,100 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the first quarter worth about $211,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 586.9% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 58,044 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 49,594 shares during the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Irenic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,691,000. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company's stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.00. The stock has a market cap of $48.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -190.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.28.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 9th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a positive return on equity of 9.93% and a negative net margin of 0.41%.The company had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.500 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.510-0.550 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were issued a dividend of $0.1425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's payout ratio is presently -300.00%.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is an enterprise technology company that designs, develops and sells IT infrastructure, software and services for business and government customers. Its core offerings span servers, storage, networking, and related software, together with consulting, integration and support services aimed at modernizing and managing enterprise IT environments. HPE's product portfolio includes systems for traditional data centers as well as solutions for high-performance computing, edge computing and telecommunications infrastructure.

A major focus for HPE is hybrid cloud and consumption-based IT.

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