Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,908 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,792 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $6,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% in the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $5,182,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,508,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,274,127.93. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $493,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,037. This trade represents a 26.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on HPE. Citigroup lifted their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Raymond James upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.21.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Up 2.1 %

Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock opened at $21.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.75. The company has a market cap of $27.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 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 earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.67 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.14%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company 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.