Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Short Interest Up 46.0% in March

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 43,760,000 shares, a growth of 46.0% from the February 28th total of 29,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of HPE stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.80. The stock had a trading volume of 19,213,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,855,743. The firm has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.31, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.46. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a fifty-two week low of $14.64 and a fifty-two week high of $24.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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 issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 11,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,118,145. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HPE. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,173,982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,011,000 after acquiring an additional 681,242 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,184,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $345,534,000 after purchasing an additional 3,208,424 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,696,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,149,000 after purchasing an additional 921,624 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter worth about $292,959,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,848,336 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $276,075,000 after buying an additional 2,058,562 shares during the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HPE. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $27.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.27.

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.