Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 16.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,153,924 shares of the computer maker's stock after acquiring an additional 160,268 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of HP worth $41,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new stake in shares of HP during the second quarter worth $88,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP during the second quarter worth $621,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 154.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 109,493 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $3,309,000 after purchasing an additional 66,510 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 11.4% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 193,700 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $6,947,000 after purchasing an additional 19,845 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of HP during the first quarter worth $17,762,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HP Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HPQ traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $37.67. 9,977,850 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,775,311. The stock has a market cap of $36.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.07. HP Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.42 and a twelve month high of $39.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.77.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.37 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HPQ. Loop Capital decreased their price target on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America downgraded HP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded HP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $7,013,373.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HP Profile

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.