HP (NYSE:HPQ) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

HP (NYSE:HPQ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC cut HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of HP from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.14.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of HP stock opened at $27.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. HP has a 52-week low of $27.43 and a 52-week high of $39.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.98.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. The firm had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.35 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that HP will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HP news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of HP stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total transaction of $357,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,002.50. The trade was a 63.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total transaction of $613,817.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 169 shares in the company, valued at $4,814.81. This trade represents a 99.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,191 shares of company stock valued at $1,425,051. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of HP by 10.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 64,228 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,299 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HP during the third quarter valued at about $207,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in HP by 8.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 786,641 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $28,217,000 after acquiring an additional 62,346 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of HP by 72.6% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,725 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 6,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of HP by 201.7% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 480,829 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $17,247,000 after acquiring an additional 321,455 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% 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.