Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) shares hit a new 52-week low on Saturday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $14.93 and last traded at $15.82, with a volume of 81923511 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.96.

HPE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $27.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 11,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $266,271.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,615 shares in the company, valued at $1,118,145. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F. Schultz sold 262,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.62, for a total transaction of $5,682,125.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 270,430 shares in the company, valued at $5,846,696.60. This represents a 49.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 324,395 shares of company stock worth $7,121,896. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Down 11.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $20.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.47 and its 200 day moving average is $20.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is currently 27.37%.

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.