Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1.46 Million Stake in HP Inc. $HPQ

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 73.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,354 shares of the computer maker’s stock after buying an additional 28,190 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in HP were worth $1,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HPQ. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of HP in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in HP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in HP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in HP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of HPQ stock opened at $29.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.90. HP Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.56 and a 52 week high of $30.87.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The computer maker reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $14.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.99 billion. HP had a net margin of 4.45% and a negative return on equity of 581.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.610-0.710 EPS. Analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. HP’s payout ratio is currently 44.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HPQ shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of HP from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of HP from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on HP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on HP from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HP news, insider David P. Mcquarrie sold 21,048 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.98, for a total transaction of $631,019.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,620 shares of company stock valued at $1,478,622. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HP 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.