HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.55.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup cut shares of 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. Bank of America cut shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Insider Transactions at HP

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HP

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of HP by 51.4% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 18,215 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 6,181 shares during the period. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management increased its stake in HP by 2.9% in the third quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,407 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of HP by 28.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,106,732 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $39,698,000 after purchasing an additional 243,230 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HP by 80.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,580 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 4,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in HP by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60,578 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $2,173,000 after buying an additional 5,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HPQ opened at $37.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $36.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a 1 year low of $25.67 and a 1 year high of $39.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.88.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.03). HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The business 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 company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

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