Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stock Position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 25.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,007,270 shares of the computer maker's stock after purchasing an additional 202,613 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.10% of HP worth $37,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of HP in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in HP by 115.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in HP in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HP

In related news, insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total transaction of $353,427.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,219,680.32. This trade represents a 13.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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. This represents a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 262,035 shares of company stock valued at $9,312,568. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HPQ. Hsbc Global Res downgraded HP from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Barclays upped their price target on HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America lowered HP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, HP has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.45.

HP Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of HP stock traded down $1.35 on Wednesday, reaching $32.49. The stock had a trading volume of 10,389,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,849,141. The business's 50 day moving average is $36.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.78. The company has a market cap of $30.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.04. HP Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.42 and a 1 year high of $39.79.

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

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

HP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This is an increase from HP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. HP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.93%.

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.