Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) gapped up sharply ahead of the open, rising from a prior close of $38.21 to an opening price of $42.78 and trading around $43.59, a move of about 16.3%.
• Analysts have turned more constructive on HPE, with several firms raising price targets or upgrading the stock; the overall consensus is now a Moderate Buy, though the average price target of $27.88 remains well below the current share price.
• The company beat quarterly EPS estimates in its last report and posted 18.4% year-over-year revenue growth, but insider selling has been notable, including recent sales by a director and the CFO.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $38.21, but opened at $42.78. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $43.5890, with a volume of 11,984,736 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on HPE. Wall Street Zen raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $27.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial began coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.88.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Up 16.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -232.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were given a dividend of $0.1425 per share. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 24th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio is presently -300.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 6,482 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.10, for a total transaction of $188,626.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $233,323.80. This represents a 44.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marie Myers sold 93,583 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 204,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,144,667.54. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 702,402 shares of company stock worth $18,440,171. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HPE. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 176.7% during the 3rd quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 159.5% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,165 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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