Athena Investment Management Lowers Holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Athena Investment Management reduced its position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,067 shares of the computer maker’s stock after selling 382 shares during the quarter. HP accounts for about 0.9% of Athena Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in HP were worth $1,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP in the 4th quarter worth $1,471,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of HP during the 4th quarter valued at about $135,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of HP by 130.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,039 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 5,688 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of HP by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 47,171 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in HP by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 12,198 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HPQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of HP from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on HP from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of HP from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alex Cho sold 173,137 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.11, for a total value of $6,251,977.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64,676 shares in the company, valued at $2,335,450.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

HP Price Performance

HP stock opened at $33.47 on Wednesday. HP Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.22 and a 1 year high of $39.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.78. The stock has a market cap of $32.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.03). HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

HP announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

HP 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.