Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 18,154 Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 962,493 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 18,154 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC owned 0.07% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise worth $16,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 61.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 823,950 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,312,000 after buying an additional 312,442 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 636,802 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,061,000 after buying an additional 16,121 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth about $285,000. Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 3rd quarter worth about $191,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 30,522 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 6,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE HPE traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.86. 7,951,632 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,274,905. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.40. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $13.65 and a 12-month high of $20.07.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The business had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is currently 35.86%.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 18,323 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.96, for a total value of $310,758.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,575.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.91.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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.