HP (NYSE:HPQ) Price Target Cut to $35.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

HP (NYSE:HPQ) had its price target dropped by Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $35.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the computer maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 5.60% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on HPQ. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup dropped their price target on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.59.

HP Trading Down 2.0 %

HP stock opened at $33.15 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.86. The stock has a market cap of $31.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.05. HP has a 52 week low of $27.42 and a 52 week high of $39.79.

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

Insider Activity at HP

In related news, 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 transaction of $4,997,076.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,253,964.40. This trade represents a 60.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $357,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,002.50. This represents a 63.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 262,737 shares of company stock valued at $9,316,641. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in HP during the third quarter worth approximately $228,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of HP by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 38,208 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in HP by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 291,593 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $10,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in HP during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of HP by 18.9% in the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 15,502 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.