Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $67.10 and last traded at $64.0230, with a volume of 6257088 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on HPE. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price target (down from $63.00) on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $65.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $37.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.18.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.43.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The technology company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.18. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 6.60%.The company had revenue of $12.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.200-1.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.1425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.69%.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 17,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.91, for a total value of $967,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 65,072 shares in the company, valued at $3,703,247.52. The trade was a 20.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Antonio Neri sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.44, for a total transaction of $15,110,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,432,393 shares in the company, valued at $86,573,832.92. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HPE. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $901,751,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the second quarter worth $1,027,139,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at $773,225,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at $512,721,000. Finally, Elliott Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 27,421,735 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $652,912,000 after acquiring an additional 8,790,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) is a global technology company that provides information technology products, services and solutions for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its offerings are designed to help customers build, manage and secure data center, cloud and edge-computing environments.

HPE’s portfolio includes enterprise servers, high-performance computing systems, data storage, networking equipment, software and technology consulting services. The company also provides hybrid cloud and as-a-service solutions through HPE GreenLake, allowing customers to access and manage computing, storage, data protection and other IT capabilities through a flexible consumption model.