Smithfield Trust Co Increases Stock Position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 19.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,809 shares of the computer maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in HP were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in HP during the third quarter worth $25,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HP in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in HP by 115.1% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in HP during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Price Performance

HPQ stock opened at $37.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.24. The stock has a market cap of $36.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.07. HP Inc. has a one year low of $27.42 and a one year high of $39.52.

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

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

Insider Activity at HP

In other news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HPQ. Citigroup downgraded shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Loop Capital dropped their price target on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America downgraded shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HP has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.45.

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.