Ascent Group LLC Sells 57,478 Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Ascent Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 79.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,846 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 57,478 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,853,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,869,655,000 after purchasing an additional 5,777,901 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,384,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the first quarter valued at approximately $51,938,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,291,000. Finally, Natixis grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 10,345.0% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 1,789,965 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,736,000 after buying an additional 1,772,828 shares during the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total value of $975,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,944,995.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Gerri Gold sold 22,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.67, for a total transaction of $493,729.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,236,945.27. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total value of $975,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 150,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,944,995.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,141 shares of company stock valued at $2,850,108. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, June 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.08.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $19.41. 7,864,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,591,013. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50-day moving average is $20.22 and its 200-day moving average is $17.89. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $14.47 and a 12-month high of $22.82.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 6.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.96%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Profile

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.