Hewlett Packard Enterprise Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HPE)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 46,389 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 116% compared to the typical volume of 21,432 put options.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:HPE opened at $28.18 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.36 and a 200 day moving average of $23.18. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52 week low of $15.71 and a 52 week high of $29.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -148.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.20.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a negative net margin of 0.41% and a positive return on equity of 9.93%. The company had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.500 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.510-0.550 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 24th were issued a dividend of $0.1425 per share. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 24th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently -300.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HPE shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Fidelma Russo sold 17,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.97, for a total value of $475,517.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $3,975,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,687,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,714,218.50. This trade represents a 8.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 602,337 shares of company stock valued at $15,443,119. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2,694.4% during the 3rd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,006 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 176.7% in the 3rd quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 159.5% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,165 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by 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.