Hewlett Packard Enterprise Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HPE)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 32,344 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 21,583 call options.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 6,409 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.19, for a total transaction of $84,534.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HPE. Financial Freedom LLC raised its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 76.7% in the 1st quarter. Financial Freedom LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the period. Bell Bank lifted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 86.3% during the 1st quarter. Bell Bank now owns 342,371 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,283,000 after buying an additional 158,616 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 340.8% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,318,417 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $20,343,000 after acquiring an additional 19,141 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 43.9% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 558,747 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,621,000 after acquiring an additional 170,443 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HPE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.60.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

NYSE HPE traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.13. 22,456,784 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,789,240. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1 year low of $11.97 and a 1 year high of $24.66. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $16.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.89.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.37%.

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.