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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of HP (NYSE:HPQ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.14.

HP Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HPQ opened at $28.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. HP has a 1-year low of $27.43 and a 1-year high of $39.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.24.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. The firm had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.35 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. Equities research analysts forecast that HP will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HP news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total transaction of $357,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,277 shares in the company, valued at $204,002.50. This trade represents a 63.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in HP in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 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.