BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Grows Stock Position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 114.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,279,446 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 681,659 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $26,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 224.5% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock opened at $22.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.60. The stock has a market cap of $28.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1-year low of $14.47 and a 1-year high of $22.82.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.14%.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $163,170.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,191. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HPE shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Raymond James raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.21.

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.