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

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 36.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,369,511 shares of the computer maker's stock after buying an additional 362,241 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.15% of HP worth $44,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HPQ. State Street Corp increased its holdings in HP by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,801,428 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $1,871,046,000 after acquiring an additional 3,923,161 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of HP by 11.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,770,491 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $885,877,000 after buying an additional 2,477,977 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in HP by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,776,697 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $482,164,000 after buying an additional 592,391 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in HP during the fourth quarter worth about $229,320,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in HP by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,833,728 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $222,985,000 after acquiring an additional 90,606 shares during the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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HP Stock Performance

HPQ traded down $1.48 on Thursday, hitting $22.80. 3,761,215 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,755,184. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. HP Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.21 and a 12 month high of $39.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.31.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The business had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.35 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. On average, equities analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. HP's payout ratio is currently 41.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HPQ. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of HP from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded HP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 15,646 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $453,734.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total value of $613,817.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,814.81. The trade was a 99.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

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.