Empowered Funds LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its holdings in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,130 shares of the computer maker's stock after selling 165,988 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in HP were worth $4,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of HP by 35.5% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 143,233 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 37,529 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in HP by 1,049.4% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 90,240 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $2,752,000 after buying an additional 82,389 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in HP in the 1st quarter valued at about $160,000. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its stake in HP by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 68,833 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $2,080,000 after acquiring an additional 8,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of HP by 250.9% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 182,217 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $5,507,000 after acquiring an additional 130,284 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares of the company's stock, valued at $99.48. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HPQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup downgraded HP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.55.

HP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HPQ traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $37.43. 7,306,988 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,752,682. HP Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.42 and a 1 year high of $39.52. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $35.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.08. The firm has a market cap of $36.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.37 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.