HP (NYSE:HPQ) Rating Lowered to Hold at HSBC

HSBC lowered shares of HP (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $38.00 price objective on the computer maker's stock, down from their prior price objective of $39.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their price target on HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their target price on HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.77.

HP Price Performance

Shares of HPQ stock traded up $0.77 on Friday, hitting $35.43. 8,300,772 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,849,664. The stock has a market cap of $34.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a 12 month low of $27.42 and a 12 month high of $39.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.56 and a 200 day moving average of $35.52.

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

HP declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the computer maker to reacquire up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

HP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a boost from HP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. HP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares in the company, valued at $99.48. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of HP

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of HP by 154.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 109,493 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $3,309,000 after purchasing an additional 66,510 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of HP by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 38,796 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 11,830 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $241,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of HP by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,323 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 2,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of HP by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,568 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.