HP (NYSE:HPQ) Stock Price Down 16.9% - Here's What Happened

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) was down 16.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $23.27 and last traded at $23.16. Approximately 4,101,472 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 7,458,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HPQ shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of HP from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised HP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.14.

Remove Ads

HP Stock Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $30.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.96, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.35 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. HP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.37%.

Insider Activity at HP

In other HP news, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $453,734.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HPQ. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in HP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in HP in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in HP during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in HP during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of HP by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company's stock.

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.