HP (NYSE:HPQ) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of HP from $40.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of HP from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.83.

HP Stock Performance

NYSE:HPQ opened at $28.79 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.18 and its 200-day moving average is $31.45. HP has a 52-week low of $21.21 and a 52-week high of $39.80. The company has a market cap of $27.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Insider Transactions at HP

In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 15,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $453,734.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total transaction of $613,817.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at $4,814.81. The trade was a 99.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HPQ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of HP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,320,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in HP in the first quarter valued at approximately $179,037,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in HP by 145.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,555,989 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $116,031,000 after buying an additional 2,105,104 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,260,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,612,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently 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.