6,704 Shares in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Purchased by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,704 shares of the computer maker’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of HP by 1.2% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 23,884 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its holdings in HP by 8.1% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 3,856 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in HP by 5.9% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,321 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in HP by 3.2% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 9,635 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Investments Inc. grew its holdings in HP by 0.9% in the third quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 34,355 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of HPQ stock opened at $35.43 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.56. HP Inc. has a one year low of $27.42 and a one year high of $39.79. The firm has a market cap of $34.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.93%.

HP declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HPQ shares. HSBC lowered shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99.48. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

About HP

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.