HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.45.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HPQ shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Hsbc Global Res lowered HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. HSBC cut HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th.

HP Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of HPQ opened at $33.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.04. HP has a 12-month low of $27.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.99 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. HP’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that HP will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

HP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.2894 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. This is a positive change from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. HP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total transaction of $353,427.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 64,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,219,680.32. This represents a 13.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of HP stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $4,997,076.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 89,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,253,964.40. The trade was a 60.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 262,035 shares of company stock valued at $9,312,568. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in HP during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in HP by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in HP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in HP in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new stake in HP in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.