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

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 19,642 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,641 call options.

HP Stock Performance

NYSE:HPQ traded up $0.11 on Tuesday, reaching $27.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,494,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,151,110. HP has a 1-year low of $27.30 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.94. The firm has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.89, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The business had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.35 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.2894 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. HP’s payout ratio is 41.37%.

Insider Transactions at HP

In related news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 15,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total transaction of $613,817.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,814.81. This represents a 99.22 % decrease in their position. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of HP by 46.5% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 6,510 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in HP by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 259,257 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $8,460,000 after acquiring an additional 28,910 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital acquired a new position in HP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $557,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of HP by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 245,182 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $8,000,000 after acquiring an additional 11,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,421,000. 77.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HPQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HP presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.14.

HP Company 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.