HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.14.

Several brokerages have commented on HPQ. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of HP from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at HP

In other news, 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 transaction of $357,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,002.50. This represents a 63.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HP during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HPQ opened at $28.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. HP has a one year low of $27.43 and a one year high of $39.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.32.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.35 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HP will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s payout ratio is 41.37%.

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.