Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Stock Price

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) had its price objective increased by Citigroup from $26.00 to $27.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on HPE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, December 26th. 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 target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.50.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of HPE stock opened at $21.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.82, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.31. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12 month low of $11.97 and a 12 month high of $26.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.07.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The company’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. Research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.1425 per share. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 24th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is -300.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kirt P. Karros sold 36,460 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.61, for a total value of $897,280.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 18,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,298.85. This trade represents a 66.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 26,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $647,931.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,101,761 shares in the company, valued at $51,472,126.89. The trade was a 1.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter worth $901,751,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at $381,004,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth about $433,537,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter worth about $416,900,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth about $185,969,000. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Hewlett Packard Enterprise News

Here are the key news stories impacting Hewlett Packard Enterprise this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HPE beat Q1 non-GAAP EPS estimates and raised its FY‑2026 profit outlook; management flagged strong AI/hardware demand and a higher-than-expected Q2 revenue guide — a primary driver of the stock lift. HPE reports mixed first quarter results but raises 2026 profit outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are upgrading valuations: Bank of America raised its PT from $29 to $32 (buy), Citigroup raised its PT to $27 (buy), and Morgan Stanley bumped its PT to $25 (equal weight) — signaling stronger sell‑side conviction in HPE’s AI/networking growth. Analyst price target actions (BofA, Citi, MS)
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Antonio Neri and interviews (Bloomberg/Barron’s coverage) emphasize AI hardware pull‑through and networking strength as the demand engine behind the raised sales forecast, supporting revenue durability for investors focused on AI infrastructure exposure. AI Hardware Demand Drives HPE Sales Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest dropped ~12% in late‑February (to ~78.9M shares), reducing one source of downward pressure and potentially supporting fewer short‑led selloffs on positive news.
• Positive Sentiment: HPE declared a quarterly dividend (record Mar 24, payable Apr 23), which modestly supports income‑oriented holders and signals confidence in cash flow stability.
• Neutral Sentiment: Deeper analysis pieces compare HPE’s Q1 metrics vs. Wall Street and prior year, useful for modeling but not news‑moving by itself. Zacks: How Q1 metrics compare to estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Structural shift: networking now represents a much larger share of revenue and an oversized share of profits — positive for margins long term but creates concentration risk tied to AI/data‑center cycles. Networking now 30% of HPE revenue
• Negative Sentiment: Security risk: HPE warned of a critical AOS‑CX vulnerability that can allow admin password resets — a reputational and potential support/cost issue for customers and investors focused on product risk. HPE warns of critical AOS-CX flaw
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical moves pressured equities generally in afternoon sessions (Middle East developments, volatile oil) and briefly pulled HPE shares lower amid market‑wide risk‑off flows. Stocks fall after geopolitical developments
• Negative Sentiment: Memory supply shortages persist — HPE is using price hikes to manage costs, which supports margins but risks demand elasticity and could pressure volumes if component constraints worsen. Digitimes: memory shortages and pricing strategy

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.