HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.11.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

HP Price Performance

NYSE HPQ opened at $28.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.05. HP has a 12 month low of $25.22 and a 12 month high of $33.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.89.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at HP

In other news, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of HP 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,381.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $269,338.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total transaction of $1,199,278.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,642,381.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,723 shares of company stock valued at $3,479,287 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of HP

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of HP by 3.9% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,966,113 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $76,229,000 after purchasing an additional 112,427 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of HP by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,204 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its position in shares of HP by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 79,291 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $2,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in HP by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 62,575 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 5,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in HP by 87.9% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 765,799 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $22,960,000 after purchasing an additional 358,231 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

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.