Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires New Stake in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 29,041 shares of the computer maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,042,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HPQ. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of HP by 36.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,862 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in HP by 506.8% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 2,534 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in HP by 18.4% during the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 13,813 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,144 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in HP by 117.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 863,502 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $30,240,000 after purchasing an additional 465,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in HP by 9.2% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 493,408 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $17,411,000 after purchasing an additional 41,462 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company's stock.

HP Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE HPQ traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $34.55. 5,101,544 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,835,384. The company has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $36.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.83. HP Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.42 and a 12 month high of $39.79.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

HP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.2894 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a positive change from HP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. HP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HP

In other HP news, insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total transaction of $353,427.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 64,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,219,680.32. This represents a 13.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $4,997,076.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,272 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,253,964.40. The trade was a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,679 shares of company stock worth $6,752,491 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on HPQ shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC downgraded shares of HP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $39.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered HP from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.45.

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.