Short Interest in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Declines By 7.1%

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 31,250,000 shares, a decrease of 7.1% from the October 15th total of 33,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HPE shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.54.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Up 1.2 %

HPE traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.93. 8,801,031 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,977,658. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.37. The company has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.25. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a fifty-two week low of $13.65 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 29th. The technology company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 5.32%. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 14th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 13th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.54%.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 434,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $7,601,772.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,370,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,952,686.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 434,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $7,601,772.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,370,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,952,686.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Alan Richard May sold 343,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $5,995,919.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 249,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,361,452.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 169.2% in the 4th quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,423,320,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 68.1% in the 2nd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 90.2% in the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,910 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.