HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.55.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HPQ. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup downgraded HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital cut their price target on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HP

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPQ. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in HP in the second quarter worth $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in HP in the second quarter worth $34,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in shares of HP by 115.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Trading Down 1.4 %

HPQ stock opened at $36.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $35.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.67. HP has a 1-year low of $27.01 and a 1-year high of $39.52.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $13.52 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that HP will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

HP announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.