Kristen M. Ludgate Sells 74,356 Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Stock

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 74,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total transaction of $2,560,077.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,898.67. This trade represents a 56.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

HP Trading Down 4.0 %

HPQ opened at $32.49 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.43 and its 200 day moving average is $35.78. The company has a market cap of $30.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.04. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.99 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.2894 dividend. This is a boost from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. HP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.93%.

HP declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in 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 often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in HP during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of HP by 115.1% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in HP during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in HP in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new position in HP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Hsbc Global Res lowered HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC lowered shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.45.

HP Company 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.