HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Insider Alex Cho Sells 10,298 Shares

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of HP stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total value of $353,427.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,219,680.32. The trade was a 13.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

HP Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of HPQ traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $36.44. 11,319,275 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,865,047. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.07. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.62.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that HP Inc. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.2894 dividend. This is a boost from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. HP’s dividend payout ratio is 40.93%.

HP announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in HP during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in HP during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of HP in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HP by 115.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HPQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.77.

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.