Hewlett Packard Enterprise Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HPE)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 15,973 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 6% compared to the typical volume of 15,032 call options.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HPE traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $20.82. 16,171,532 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,186,517. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 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 one year low of $14.47 and a one year high of $22.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.53 and its 200 day moving average is $19.70.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is 37.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,771 shares in the company, valued at $163,191. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $5,182,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,508,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,274,127.93. The trade was a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 426,012 shares of company stock worth $8,599,617 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the third quarter worth $26,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.21.

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.