Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 55.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,695 shares of the computer maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,548 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in HP were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sawyer & Company Inc grew its holdings in shares of HP by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 1,000 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in HP by 377.9% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the second quarter worth $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HP in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HP during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on HPQ. Citigroup raised their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.55.

HP Price Performance

HPQ opened at $34.53 on Thursday. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.22 and a 12-month high of $39.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.96.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.37 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the computer maker to buy up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at HP

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $7,013,373.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares in the company, valued at $99.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Alex Cho sold 173,137 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.11, for a total transaction of $6,251,977.07. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,335,450.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% 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.