HP (NYSE:HPQ) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $39.58 and last traded at $39.53, with a volume of 2347595 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HPQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital lowered their target price on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.32.

HP Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.56 and a 200 day moving average of $35.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. HP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.60%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99.48. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new stake in HP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of HP by 16.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,153,924 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $41,391,000 after acquiring an additional 160,268 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP in the second quarter valued at about $621,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of HP by 154.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 109,493 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after acquiring an additional 66,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in HP by 24.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,162,772 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $77,579,000 after acquiring an additional 419,774 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HP Company Profile

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.