BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Buys 681,659 Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 114.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,279,446 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 681,659 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.10% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise worth $26,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.2% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 41,269 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.5% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 111,617 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,665 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 35,349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HPE. Barclays raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $493,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 82,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,395,037. The trade was a 26.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $5,182,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,508,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,274,127.93. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 426,012 shares of company stock valued at $8,599,617. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of HPE opened at $22.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $28.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.19. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12 month low of $14.47 and a 12 month high of $22.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.60.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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 firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 37.14%.

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.