Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 1,500 Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,971 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise were worth $426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,144 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 6,965 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 96,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 3,812 shares during the last quarter. Black Swift Group LLC grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 92.1% in the 4th quarter. Black Swift Group LLC now owns 115,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,461,000 after purchasing an additional 55,250 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter valued at about $292,959,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 377,201 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,053,000 after buying an additional 4,847 shares during the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

NYSE HPE opened at $15.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.47 and its 200-day moving average is $20.72. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $14.93 and a 12-month high of $24.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.37%.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, EVP John F. Schultz sold 262,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.62, for a total transaction of $5,682,125.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 270,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,696.60. This represents a 49.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 11,577 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $266,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,118,145. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 324,395 shares of company stock valued at $7,121,896 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HPE shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Raymond James raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.21.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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.