Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 57,879 Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 40.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 199,475 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 57,879 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $4,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter worth $28,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 80.3% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 224.5% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

HPE stock opened at $22.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.60. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a one year low of $14.47 and a one year high of $22.82. The company has a market capitalization of $28.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 7,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $163,170.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,191. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 426,012 shares of company stock valued at $8,599,617 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna restated 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, Bank of America upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.