Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys 938,680 Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 106.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,819,874 shares of the computer maker's stock after acquiring an additional 938,680 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.19% of HP worth $63,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,471,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of HP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $135,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in HP by 130.7% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,039 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 5,688 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in HP by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 47,171 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $1,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in HP by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 12,198 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company's stock.

HP Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HPQ traded up $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.37. 7,078,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,887,482. HP Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.22 and a 1-year high of $39.52. The company has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50 day moving average is $35.38 and its 200-day moving average is $32.78.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.03). HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. HP's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HPQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on HP from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of 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, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at HP

In other news, insider Alex Cho sold 173,137 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.11, for a total transaction of $6,251,977.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,676 shares in the company, valued at $2,335,450.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.41% 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.