Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on HPE. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Raymond James raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

NYSE:HPE traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.82. The stock had a trading volume of 8,661,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,123,096. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.21. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52 week low of $14.47 and a 52 week high of $24.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.22.

Insider Activity

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP John F. Schultz sold 262,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.62, for a total transaction of $5,682,125.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 270,430 shares in the company, valued at $5,846,696.60. This trade represents a 49.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,191. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 578,359 shares of company stock valued at $12,380,028. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $861,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 67.8% during the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 90,826 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,858,000 after buying an additional 36,704 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 17.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,202,752 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,528,000 after buying an additional 472,885 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 110.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 299,743 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,102,000 after acquiring an additional 157,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,915,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

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.