Investors Buy Large Volume of HP Call Options (NYSE:HPQ)

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 20,801 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 57% compared to the typical volume of 13,207 call options.

Insider Activity

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares in the company, valued at $99.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HPQ. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in HP during the second quarter worth $34,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HPQ traded down $0.43 on Wednesday, hitting $36.63. 2,612,169 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,782,112. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a one year low of $25.95 and a one year high of $39.52.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.03). HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that HP will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

HP declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HPQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HP presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.55.

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.