HP (NYSE:HPQ) Lowered to Neutral at Bank of America

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report released on Friday, Briefing.com reports. They currently have a $37.00 price objective on the computer maker's stock. Bank of America's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 0.41% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on HP from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HP has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.55.

HP Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:HPQ opened at $36.85 on Friday. HP has a 12 month low of $25.22 and a 12 month high of $39.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.15. The stock has a market cap of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.37 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the computer maker to buy up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at HP

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares of the company's stock, valued at $99.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of HP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HP by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,778,246 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $3,649,919,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062,441 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in HP by 1,472.4% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,264,081 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $68,126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,120,096 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in HP during the second quarter valued at about $62,672,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in HP by 10,188.2% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,777,912 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $53,680,000 after buying an additional 1,760,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DME Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of HP by 108.7% in the second quarter. DME Capital Management LP now owns 3,373,030 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $118,124,000 after buying an additional 1,757,070 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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