Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 43,760,000 shares, an increase of 46.0% from the February 28th total of 29,980,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 17,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

HPE traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.80. 19,213,202 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,855,743. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52 week low of $14.64 and a 52 week high of $24.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.55 and a 200 day moving average of $20.46.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 11,577 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $266,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,118,145. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,173,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,011,000 after purchasing an additional 681,242 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,184,240 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $345,534,000 after buying an additional 3,208,424 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,696,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,149,000 after buying an additional 921,624 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $292,959,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,848,336 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $276,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,562 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HPE shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Daiwa America cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.27.

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.