Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $24.66 and last traded at $24.47, with a volume of 1865263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $23.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.38.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is presently 27.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total value of $1,173,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 104,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,445,386.24. This trade represents a 32.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F. Schultz sold 262,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 270,430 shares in the company, valued at $5,846,696.60. The trade was a 49.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 332,166 shares of company stock worth $7,300,629. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,999 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 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.