National Pension Service Trims Stake in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

National Pension Service reduced its stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,109,367 shares of the computer maker’s stock after selling 53,405 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in HP were worth $68,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,418,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in HP by 218.3% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 89,572 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $2,948,000 after buying an additional 61,433 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in HP by 228.2% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 220,674 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $7,201,000 after buying an additional 153,433 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in HP during the fourth quarter worth $123,000. Finally, J. W. Coons Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HP during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HPQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Hsbc Global Res lowered HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.68.

Insider Activity at HP

In other HP news, insider Alex Cho sold 40,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.80, for a total transaction of $1,401,987.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64,676 shares in the company, valued at $2,250,724.80. This represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 89,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,253,964.40. This trade represents a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 262,737 shares of company stock worth $9,316,641. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HP Trading Down 2.0 %

HPQ stock opened at $33.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.05. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.86.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The firm had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.35 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. Research analysts predict that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.2894 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. HP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.93%.

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.