Perpetual Ltd, an investment firm, has increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) by 35.1% during the second quarter of this year, as stated in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company now owns 76,656 shares of HPE’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,912 shares during the period. At the end of the second quarter, Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in HPE were valued at $1,288,000.
This news comes after HPE reported its quarterly earnings results on August 29th. The technology company exceeded analysts’ consensus estimates by reporting earnings per share of $0.49 for the quarter, surpassing expectations by $0.02. In terms of revenue, HPE generated $7 billion during the quarter compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Furthermore, HPE exhibited a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 3.64%. On a yearly basis, the company experienced a 0.7% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year when it earned $0.31 earnings per share.
Several research analysts have recently provided their insights into HPE’s performance and outlook for investors. Citigroup initiated coverage on HPE and assigned a “neutral” rating with a price objective of $18.00 for the company on June 29th this year. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price objective from $21.00 to $20.00 but maintained an “outperform” rating on HPE in a research note released on August 30th.
Meanwhile, StockNews.com upgraded HPE from a “hold” to a “buy” rating on August 30th in another research note analysis report they published around that same period.
Wells Fargo & Company also shared their positive sentiment about HPE by increasing their target price from $20.00 to $21.00 and giving the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on August 30th. In contrast, Bank of America upgraded their price target from $18.00 to $19.00 but maintained a “neutral” rating for HPE in another research note released on August 30th.
Currently, HPE has received mixed ratings from analysts, including one sell rating, six hold ratings, and four buy ratings for the stock. According to data from Bloomberg, the consensus rating for HPE is currently “Hold,” with a consensus target price of $17.33.
Investors and stakeholders in Hewlett Packard Enterprise may find these recent developments informative and worth considering as they make their investment decisions regarding the company’s stock for the remainder of the fiscal year.
GSK plc
GSK
Strong Buy
Updated on: 25/09/2023
Increase in Stakeholding by Institutional Investors Reflects Confidence in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has seen an increase in stakeholding by various institutional investors in recent months. Vanguard Group Inc., one of the largest investment management firms, raised its position in HPE by 1.2% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,824,331 shares. This move solidified Vanguard’s ownership of 152,566,180 shares of HPE stock, valued at $2,549,380,000.
Similarly, State Street Corp increased its holdings in HPE by 2.9% during the same period. The firm added 1,959,250 shares to its portfolio and now owns a total of 70,328,694 shares worth $1,183,418,000. Bank of America Corp DE also raised its position in HPE by 12.5% during the first quarter by purchasing an additional 6,572,347 shares. Bank of America now owns a total of 59,288,867 shares valued at $944,472,000.
Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership and Geode Capital Management LLC also increased their stakes in HPE during the first quarter. Arrowstreet purchased an additional 6,019,701 shares while Geode added 238.050 shares to their respective portfolios.
Overall it can be concluded that hedge funds and other institutional investors currently own around 81.15% of HPE’s stock.
Moving on to HPE’s stock performance as per September 24th opening price was recorded at $17.02 with a fifty-day moving average price of $17.26 and a two-hundred-day moving average price of $16.03. Over the past year HPE has experienced a low of $11.90 and a high of $18.14.
With regard to market capitalization figures HPE is currently standing at approximately $21.83 billion with a fairly stable price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76 and a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00. Furthermore, the company has a beta value of 1.25 indicating moderate volatility in relation to market movements.
In terms of financial health, HPE holds a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, indicating a reasonable level of operational stability. Current and quick ratios stand at 0.88 and 0.65 respectively, which again depict a generally healthy liquidity position.
Considering analysts’ opinions on HPE shares, it is worth noting that Citigroup initiated coverage on the stock in late June this year by assigning it a “neutral” rating with a target price of $18.00 per share.
Credit Suisse Group lowered its price objective from $21.00 to $20.00 while maintaining an “outperform” rating on the stock in late August this year.
Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave HPE an “overweight” rating during the same month, reflecting positive sentiment towards the company’s prospects.
Bank of America also adjusted their price target for HPE by raising it from $18.00 to $19.00 in late August this year while labeling the stock as “neutral”.
Overall consensus ratings gathered from data provided by Bloomberg indicate that HPE currently holds a “Hold” rating as per analyst evaluations, with a consensus target price estimated at around $17.33 per share.
On another note, Hewlett Packard Enterprise recently announced its plans to distribute dividends on Friday, October 13th this year. Shareholders who are registered as of Thursday, September 14th will receive a dividend payout of $0.12 per share owned on record date.
This quarterly dividend translates into an annualized dividend payout ratio amounting to approximately 58.54%, suggesting that HPE aims to provide consistent returns to its investors.
In terms of insider selling activity, CEO Antonio F. Neri recently sold 434,884 shares at an average price of $17.48 per share in early September this year. Proceeds from the sale totaled approximately $7,601,772.32.
Following this transaction, Neri’s direct ownership in HPE decreased slightly but still stands strong at 1,370,291 shares valued at roughly $23,952,686.68.
Additionally, SVP Jeremy Cox also sold 21,131 shares of HPE stock in late July this year at an average price of $17.66 per share amounting to a total transaction value of $373,173.46.
Insider selling activity over the past three months has amounted to a total of 799,031 shares sold by company insiders with a cumulative worth of approximately $13,970,865. Company insiders currently hold around 0.53% stake in HPE.
In conclusion, there has been an increase in stakeholding by institutional investors such as Vanguard Group Inc., State Street Corp and Bank of America Corp DE over recent quarters which demonstrates confidence and support for Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
HPE’s stock performance has been relatively stable with a
