GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New Investment in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,170 shares of the computer maker’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HP by 12.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,509,674 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $3,019,999,000 after purchasing an additional 12,883,347 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of HP by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,131,560 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $260,381,000 after buying an additional 589,775 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of HP by 4,180.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,516,510 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $286,352,000 after buying an additional 9,294,209 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,220,098 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $211,257,000 after acquiring an additional 995,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 145.9% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 6,090,872 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $156,535,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,742 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Price Performance

HPQ opened at $28.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.83. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.22 and a 12-month high of $33.90.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The computer maker reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.81. The firm had revenue of $13.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.56 billion. HP had a net margin of 6.45% and a negative return on equity of 181.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.2756 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total transaction of $1,199,278.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,381.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total value of $1,199,278.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,381.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $2,010,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,807,082.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 116,723 shares of company stock valued at $3,479,287. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.11.

HP 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.