Argyle Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Argyle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 144,173 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $3,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 3,537.0% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,788,154 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $127,571,000 after acquiring an additional 5,629,006 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter valued at $105,185,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 27,383,858 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $560,274,000 after purchasing an additional 4,194,213 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,253,035 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,142,000 after buying an additional 1,885,559 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 61.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,504,681 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $71,706,000 after buying an additional 1,335,318 shares during the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

NYSE HPE opened at $19.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.70. The stock has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52 week low of $14.47 and a 52 week high of $24.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,771 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $178,733.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 61,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,419,905. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.47, for a total transaction of $1,173,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 104,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,445,386.24. This represents a 32.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 332,166 shares of company stock valued at $7,300,629 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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.