Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.25.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of HPE opened at $24.77 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.78. The stock has a market cap of $32.69 billion, a PE ratio of -412.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.34. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1-year low of $11.97 and a 1-year high of $26.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 0.17% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The firm had revenue of $9.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.570-0.610 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 19th will be paid a $0.1425 dividend. This is an increase from Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is presently -866.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP John F. Schultz sold 84,676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.15, for a total value of $1,960,249.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 338,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,840,557.75. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Maeve C. Culloty sold 3,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.12, for a total transaction of $93,898.56. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 295,080 shares of company stock worth $7,208,998. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 171,140,995 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,203,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,940 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,421,976 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,864,000 after purchasing an additional 724,974 shares in the last quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $381,004,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 17,584,742 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $271,333,000 after buying an additional 2,373,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at $416,900,000. 80.78% of the stock is 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.