Hewlett Packard Enterprise Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HPE)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 31,071 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseof51% compared to the typical volume of 20,618 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.87.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

HPE stock opened at $21.57 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.29. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52-week low of $11.97 and a 52-week high of $24.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.30.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The technology company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 4.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.54, for a total transaction of $616,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $871,450.58. This trade represents a 41.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $1,264,799.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 128,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,436,000. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,804,055 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,472,493,000 after buying an additional 2,604,059 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,421,976 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,864,000 after buying an additional 724,974 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 15.6% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 2,373,850 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,730,015 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $258,144,000 after buying an additional 545,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1,369.1% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 16,279,442 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,192,000 after buying an additional 15,171,314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

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.