HP (NYSE:HPQ) Shares Down 4.2%

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) shares traded down 4.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $34.26 and last traded at $34.36. 512,989 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 7,981,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HPQ. Barclays reduced their price objective on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America downgraded shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday. Citigroup cut shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital dropped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.55.

HP Trading Down 4.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $33.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.28.

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

HP announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the computer maker to repurchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the company’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 transaction of $7,013,373.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HP during the second quarter valued at about $1,549,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,373,000. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of HP in the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in HP by 14.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 125,398 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $4,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of HP by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 176,513 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $6,181,000 after acquiring an additional 7,678 shares in the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.