HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.68.

Several research firms recently issued reports on HPQ. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res lowered HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, HSBC lowered HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, November 29th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total value of $357,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,277 shares in the company, valued at $204,002.50. This trade represents a 63.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $4,997,076.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,253,964.40. The trade was a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,035 shares of company stock worth $9,670,068 in the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 increased its position in HP by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,350,016 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $825,398,000 after buying an additional 579,525 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in HP by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,776,697 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $482,164,000 after buying an additional 592,391 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in HP by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,844,795 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $419,126,000 after buying an additional 1,755,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in HP by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,511,218 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $310,351,000 after buying an additional 643,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE HPQ opened at $34.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.86. HP has a twelve month low of $27.42 and a twelve month high of $39.79.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.99 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HP will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s payout ratio is presently 40.93%.

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.