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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $21.76, but opened at $22.60. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $22.18, with a volume of 8,399,302 shares changing hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is currently 27.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.36.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Up 10.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $31.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.67 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 83,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.72, for a total transaction of $1,643,346.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,758,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,680,400.52. This trade represents a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $493,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,395,037. This represents a 26.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 426,012 shares of company stock valued at $8,599,617 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HPE. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth $26,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.