Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares gapped up on Thursday, opening at $33.70 after closing at $32.07 and last trading around $34.25.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with several firms raising price targets and ratings; the stock now carries a consensus Moderate Buy and an average target of $26.71.
• Recent fundamentals were solid: HPE beat quarterly EPS estimates at $0.65 and reported 18.4% year-over-year revenue growth, while also maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.1425.

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $32.07, but opened at $33.70. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $34.2480, with a volume of 13,425,693 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HPE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.71.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -178.30, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.28.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 9th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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, 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 paid a $0.1425 dividend. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 24th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -300.00%.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 6,482 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.10, for a total value of $188,626.20. Following the sale, the director owned 8,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $233,323.80. This trade represents a 44.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Fidelma Russo sold 34,001 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.08, for a total value of $852,745.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $426,385.08. This represents a 66.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 702,402 shares of company stock valued at $18,440,171 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 317.3% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.4% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 23,593 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 25.8% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 15,662 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 3,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter valued at $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company's stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Profile

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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