Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Key Points

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) shares opened at $23.90 following a dividend announcement, significantly up from the previous close of $22.82. The company declared a $0.13 dividend, which represents an annualized payout of $0.52 and a yield of 2.2%.
• Wall Street analysts have favorable predictions for HPE, with ratings including two Strong Buy, seven Buy, and nine Hold, and a consensus target price of $24.60.
• Insider trading activity revealed significant sales, with a total of 378,590 shares sold by company insiders in the past 90 days, indicating a potential shift in sentiment despite institutional investors owning 80.78% of the company's stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $22.82, but opened at $23.90. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $23.63, with a volume of 14,949,285 shares traded.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 18th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's payout ratio is 63.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HPE. UBS Group boosted their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.87.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Up 1.6%

The firm has a market cap of $30.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Insider Activity

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Insiders sold a total of 461,924 shares of company stock valued at $10,110,183 in the last three months. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 54.7% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,063 shares of the technology company's stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 6,035 shares in the last quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,040,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $266,000. Marex Group plc purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $331,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 89.9% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 54,228 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 25,678 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.