Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $22.82, but opened at $23.90. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $23.63, with a volume of 14,949,285 shares traded.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 18th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HPE shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.87.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $30.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.39.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The technology company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 3.77%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $1,264,799.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 166,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.52, for a total value of $3,753,318.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,919,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,217,231.20. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 378,590 shares of company stock worth $8,106,833. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elliott Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $381,004,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 15,171,314 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3,847.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,831,262 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $180,599,000 after purchasing an additional 8,607,523 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 192.4% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 10,599,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $216,754,000 after purchasing an additional 6,974,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter worth $110,093,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.