Short Interest in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Drops By 10.7%

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 33,080,000 shares, a decrease of 10.7% from the October 15th total of 37,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HPE traded down $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.07. The stock had a trading volume of 10,918,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,044,932. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $14.47 and a 12-month high of $22.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.47.

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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 83,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.72, for a total value of $1,643,346.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,758,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,680,400.52. This represents a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,037. This trade represents a 26.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 426,012 shares of company stock valued at $8,599,617 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HPE. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter valued at approximately $861,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 67.8% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 90,826 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after buying an additional 36,704 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 17.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,202,752 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,528,000 after acquiring an additional 472,885 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 455.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 121,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 99,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1,846.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 489,092 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $100,070,000 after acquiring an additional 463,965 shares during the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HPE shares. Loop Capital upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a 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 stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.46.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company 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.