North Growth Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

North Growth Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 472,000 shares of the computer maker's stock after selling 8,000 shares during the period. HP comprises about 2.9% of North Growth Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. North Growth Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of HP worth $15,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HPQ. State Street Corp increased its position in HP by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,801,428 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $1,871,046,000 after buying an additional 3,923,161 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of HP by 11.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,770,491 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $885,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,977 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of HP by 145.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,555,989 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $116,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,105,104 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in HP by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,184,306 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $508,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455,138 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its position in HP by 2,649.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,318,599 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $47,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,642 shares during the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HP news, insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of HP 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 owns 64,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,219,680.32. The trade was a 13.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,272 shares in the company, valued at $3,253,964.40. This represents a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 273,035 shares of company stock valued at $9,670,068. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

HP Stock Down 0.3 %

HP stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,312,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,914,940. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.05. HP Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.42 and a twelve month high of $39.79. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $33.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.88.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. HP's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.2894 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. HP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HPQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays increased their price target on HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC cut shares of HP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, November 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.23.

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.