Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Key Points

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) experienced a significant rise in call options trading, with 379,906 options purchased—an increase of 1,107% from the typical daily volume.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for HPE, with Raymond James increasing it to $30.00 and Susquehanna to $21.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for the stock.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, scheduled for payment on October 17th, representing an annualized yield of 2.1%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 379,906 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,107% compared to the typical daily volume of 31,483 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a "sector weight" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.81.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE HPE traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.99. 32,894,671 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,789,748. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.65. The company has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.43. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12 month low of $11.97 and a 12 month high of $25.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 18th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $1,264,799.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 40,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.58, for a total value of $983,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,061,500.02. This represents a 32.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 668,590 shares of company stock valued at $15,265,033 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,804,055 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,472,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604,059 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,421,976 shares of the technology company's stock worth $701,864,000 after acquiring an additional 724,974 shares during the period. Elliott Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the second quarter worth $381,004,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 15.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 17,584,742 shares of the technology company's stock worth $271,333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,850 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,730,015 shares of the technology company's stock worth $258,144,000 after acquiring an additional 545,775 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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.