Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise to “buy” from “hold,” adding to a wave of generally positive analyst sentiment. The stock now carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $26.71.
• HPE shares rose 5.4% and recently traded near a 12-month high of $31.35. The stock opened at $31.30, well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Recent earnings topped EPS estimates, with quarterly EPS of $0.65 versus $0.59 expected and revenue up 18.4% year over year. The company also issued FY2026 guidance for EPS of $2.30 to $2.50.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on HPE. Bank of America raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.71.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of NYSE:HPE opened at $31.30 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $41.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -164.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.28. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $16.76 and a 12-month high of $31.35. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $24.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.38.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.31 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a positive return on equity of 9.93% and a negative net margin of 0.41%.Hewlett Packard Enterprise's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 150,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $3,975,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,687,329 shares in the company, valued at $44,714,218.50. This trade represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 24,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.01, for a total transaction of $655,019.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $870,883.43. This trade represents a 42.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 702,402 shares of company stock valued at $18,440,171 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 317.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 149,810 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,312,000 after purchasing an additional 113,906 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 44.7% during the first 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 last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.4% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 23,593 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 25.8% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 15,662 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 3,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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