Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Down 6.2% – Time to Sell?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) shares fell 6.2% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $53.41 and last traded at $55.2220. 16,375,252 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 21,033,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $76.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.44.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Down 6.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $73.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The technology company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $12.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.97 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.200-1.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a $0.1425 dividend. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is presently 29.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rami Rahim sold 34,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.42, for a total transaction of $2,116,287.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 875,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,750,668.86. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.91, for a total value of $967,470.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,703,247.52. The trade was a 20.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 585,899 shares of company stock valued at $37,270,329 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HPE. Irenic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the first quarter valued at about $18,691,000. Gunderson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth about $15,409,000. Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth about $19,340,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth about $1,661,000. Finally, Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 36.7% in the third quarter. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 110,121 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,036,000 after purchasing an additional 29,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) is a global technology company that provides information technology solutions for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its offerings are designed to help customers build, manage and modernize data centers, hybrid cloud environments and edge computing operations.

HPE’s portfolio includes enterprise servers and compute systems, data storage, networking products, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.