Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Price Target Cut to $23.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

HPE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Argus raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, December 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.29.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Down 1.8%

Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock opened at $21.57 on Wednesday. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52-week low of $11.97 and a 52-week high of $26.44. The company has a market cap of $28.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -359.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.05.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.91 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 0.17% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.570-0.610 EPS. Analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 19th were paid a dividend of $0.1425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 19th. This is an increase from Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is presently -950.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 26,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $647,931.93. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,101,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,472,126.89. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kirt P. Karros sold 36,460 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.61, for a total transaction of $897,280.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 18,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,298.85. The trade was a 66.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 585,537 shares of company stock valued at $14,255,864. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter worth approximately $901,751,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter worth $381,004,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter worth $433,537,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter valued at $416,900,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter worth about $185,969,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is an enterprise technology company that designs, develops and sells IT infrastructure, software and services for business and government customers. Its core offerings span servers, storage, networking, and related software, together with consulting, integration and support services aimed at modernizing and managing enterprise IT environments. HPE’s product portfolio includes systems for traditional data centers as well as solutions for high-performance computing, edge computing and telecommunications infrastructure.

A major focus for HPE is hybrid cloud and consumption-based IT.