HP (NYSE:HPQ) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $32.37 and last traded at $32.3730, with a volume of 6899757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HPQ. Wall Street Zen upgraded HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on HP from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on HP from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays increased their price target on HP from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised HP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $25.17.

HP Stock Up 2.8%

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.94. The firm has a market cap of $29.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.18.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.44 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 947.78% and a net margin of 4.14%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.190-3.290 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.690-0.790 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. HP’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insider Activity

In other HP news, insider David P. Mcquarrie sold 21,048 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.98, for a total transaction of $631,019.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,186,608.40. This represents a 34.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,620 shares of company stock worth $1,478,622. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of HP by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 114,169 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $2,793,000 after purchasing an additional 13,265 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in HP by 2.7% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 21,230 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of HP by 6.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 145,337 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $3,555,000 after purchasing an additional 8,779 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 70.5% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 731,574 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $17,894,000 after purchasing an additional 302,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of HP in the second quarter valued at $233,000. 77.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HP Company Profile

HP Inc is an American multinational information technology company that designs, manufactures and sells personal computing devices, printers and related supplies and services. Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial notebooks and desktops, workstations, displays and accessories, as well as an extensive line of printing hardware that includes home, office and production printers. HP also provides consumables such as ink and toner, managed print services, device deployment and lifecycle support, and software for device and print management.

Founded from the original Hewlett‑Packard Company, HP Inc became a separately traded public company in 2015 following a corporate split that created Hewlett Packard Enterprise to focus on enterprise hardware and services.