Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,956,741 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 229,258 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.23% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise worth $52,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HPE. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 30.7% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 219,376 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after buying an additional 51,531 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,322,885 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,455,000 after purchasing an additional 475,397 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 1st quarter valued at about $200,000. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 32.3% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 631,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,188,000 after buying an additional 153,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3.0% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 41,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.04. 3,421,871 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,898,475. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.68. The stock has a market cap of $27.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.19. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $7.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total transaction of $975,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 150,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,944,995.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 150,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,944,995.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 18,323 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.96, for a total transaction of $310,758.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,541 shares in the company, valued at $263,575.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 158,464 shares of company stock worth $3,160,866 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HPE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Argus upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.08.

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.