Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Down 12% – Time to Sell?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) traded down 12% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $43.38 and last traded at $44.1030. Approximately 27,945,276 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 33% from the average session volume of 20,992,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.09.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted HPE as a potential long-term growth stock and included it among stocks with a high earnings yield and a Buy rating, supporting the investment case for investors focused on growth or value. Article: Why Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term Article: 5 Value Stocks to Buy as AI Volatility Reshapes the Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to HPE’s November 23 earnings call. The report could provide a near-term catalyst, but the articles do not provide new forecasts or results. Article: Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock faces November 23 earnings test
• Neutral Sentiment: HPE’s CEO said he has no exposure to AI’s financing web. That may help distinguish the company from concerns about leveraged AI infrastructure financing, though the article provides no further details on potential business impact. Article: HPE’s CEO says he has zero exposure to AI’s financing web
• Negative Sentiment: HPE shares were caught in a broad, second-day selloff in AI hardware stocks after the U.S. midterm elections; the report said HPE and Super Micro fell about 10%. The prior session also saw HPE decline as investors weighed data-center concerns and questions about AI server-sector margins. This points to sector-wide sentiment rather than a specific new HPE setback. Article: Post-midterm sell-off hits AI hardware Article: Margin worries and data-center backlash weigh on AI server stocks

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HPE has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $57.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.44.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 12.0%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $58.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.46.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The technology company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.18. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 6.60%. The company had revenue of $12.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 33.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 research analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a $0.1425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.91, for a total transaction of $967,470.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 65,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,703,247.52. This trade represents a 20.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Antonio Neri sold 250,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.44, for a total transaction of $15,110,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,432,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,573,832.92. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 585,899 shares of company stock worth $37,270,329. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HPE. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter worth about $1,027,139,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter valued at about $773,225,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter valued at about $512,721,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 47.2% in the 1st quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 27,421,735 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $652,912,000 after acquiring an additional 8,790,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $322,718,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.