Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 26,864 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 41% compared to the average daily volume of 19,108 call options.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE HPE opened at $16.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a one year low of $14.64 and a one year high of $24.66. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.45.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm 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 is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, 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 value of $266,271.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,118,145. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HPE. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 203,283 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,340,000 after acquiring an additional 62,480 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the fourth quarter valued at $9,247,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 15,391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 7,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Daiwa America cut Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.