Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Stock Price Down 2.4% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• HPE shares fell 2.4% to about $58.87 on trading volume 59% below average, while analyst sentiment remained positive overall. The stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $65.44 average price target.
• HPE reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.11 beating estimates by $0.18 and revenue rising 33.7% year over year to $12.21 billion. Analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $3.34.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1425 per share, equivalent to a $0.57 annualized payout and a 1.0% yield. However, insiders sold 585,899 shares worth $37.3 million in the last quarter, including sales by the CEO and an executive vice president.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) shares fell 2.4% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $58.43 and last traded at $58.8720. Approximately 8,641,517 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 21,054,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on HPE. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $74.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $57.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.44.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $78.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.39.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The technology company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.18. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The business had revenue of $12.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's quarterly revenue was up 33.7% on a year-over-year basis. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.200-1.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.1425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio is 29.69%.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.31, for a total value of $17,077,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,182,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $80,769,265.83. This represents a 17.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Rami Rahim sold 34,443 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total value of $1,999,071.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 840,690 shares in the company, valued at $48,793,647.60. This trade represents a 3.94% 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. Insiders sold a total of 585,899 shares of company stock worth $37,270,329 in the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter worth approximately $1,027,139,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth $773,225,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 27,421,735 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $652,912,000 after purchasing an additional 8,790,757 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,088,774 shares of the technology company's stock worth $590,435,000 after buying an additional 756,972 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter worth $512,721,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Profile

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company NYSE: HPE is a global technology company that provides information technology solutions for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its offerings are designed to help customers build, manage and modernize data centers, hybrid cloud environments and edge computing operations.

HPE's portfolio includes enterprise servers and compute systems, data storage, networking products, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

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