Citigroup Cuts Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Price Target to $26.00

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) had its price target cut by Citigroup from $28.00 to $26.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Friday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Monday, November 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.29.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of HPE opened at $21.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $28.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -355.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.04. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12 month low of $11.97 and a 12 month high of $26.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The technology company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 0.17%.The firm had revenue of $9.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.570-0.610 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 19th were issued a dividend of $0.1425 per share. This is a boost from Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is presently -950.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP Fidelma Russo sold 126,512 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.61, for a total transaction of $3,113,460.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,255,159.22. This trade represents a 71.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kirt P. Karros sold 36,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.61, for a total transaction of $897,280.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 18,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,298.85. The trade was a 66.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 585,537 shares of company stock valued at $14,255,864. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HPE. Investment Research Partners LLC raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research Partners LLC now owns 21,925 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.0% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 42,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 6,694 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 80,769 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,940,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is an enterprise technology company that designs, develops and sells IT infrastructure, software and services for business and government customers. Its core offerings span servers, storage, networking, and related software, together with consulting, integration and support services aimed at modernizing and managing enterprise IT environments. HPE’s product portfolio includes systems for traditional data centers as well as solutions for high-performance computing, edge computing and telecommunications infrastructure.

A major focus for HPE is hybrid cloud and consumption-based IT.