HP (NYSE:HPQ) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

HP (NYSE:HPQ) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on HP from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.14.

HP Stock Down 2.0 %

HPQ traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.94. 8,848,478 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,189,047. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.61. HP has a 52-week low of $27.43 and a 52-week high of $39.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.35 billion. Equities analysts predict that HP will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 74,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total transaction of $2,560,077.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,898.67. This represents a 56.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total value of $357,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,277 shares in the company, valued at $204,002.50. This represents a 63.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 125,643 shares of company stock worth $4,319,565 in the last three months. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at about $261,000. AG Asset Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at about $276,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,612,000. Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,162,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of HP by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 45,111 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.