HP (NYSE:HPQ) Stock Rating Lowered by HSBC

HP (NYSE:HPQ) was downgraded by analysts at HSBC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $38.00 price target on the computer maker’s stock, down from their previous price target of $39.00. HSBC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.64% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on HPQ. TD Cowen increased their price objective on HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America downgraded shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.77.

HP Stock Performance

NYSE:HPQ opened at $34.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a fifty-two week low of $27.42 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.52.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that HP will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

HP announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the computer maker to buy up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HP

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99.48. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of HP by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,801,428 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,871,046,000 after buying an additional 3,923,161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of HP by 11.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,770,491 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $885,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,977 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of HP in the second quarter worth about $62,672,000. DME Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of HP by 108.7% during the second quarter. DME Capital Management LP now owns 3,373,030 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $118,124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in HP by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,184,306 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $508,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455,138 shares in the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HP Company Profile

HP Inc provides products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. It operates through Personal Systems and Printing segments. The Personal Systems segment offers commercial personal computers (PCs), consumer PCs, workstations, thin clients, commercial tablets and mobility devices, retail point-of-sale systems, displays and other related accessories, software, support, and services for the commercial and consumer markets.