Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Takes Position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new stake in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,971 shares of the computer maker’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HPQ. Sawyer & Company Inc increased its position in shares of HP by 900.0% in the first quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 1,000 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of HP by 377.9% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of HP in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in HP during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC purchased a new stake in HP during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.55.

Insider Transactions at HP

In other news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HPQ opened at $36.00 on Wednesday. HP Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.59 and a 1 year high of $39.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.47.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that HP Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

HP declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the computer maker to reacquire up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.