Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,072 shares of the computer maker's stock after buying an additional 23,693 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in HP were worth $7,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LVW Advisors LLC increased its holdings in HP by 1.2% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 23,884 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC grew its position in shares of HP by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 3,856 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of HP by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,321 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of HP by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 9,635 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Investments Inc. lifted its stake in HP by 0.9% in the third quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 34,355 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company's stock.

HP Stock Down 4.0 %

NYSE:HPQ traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.49. 10,389,459 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,849,141. The business's 50-day moving average price is $36.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.78. The company has a market cap of $30.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.04. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79.

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

HP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is an increase from HP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. HP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.93%.

HP declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer maker to repurchase up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HPQ. Bank of America cut HP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.45.

Insider Transactions at HP

In other news, insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of HP stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total transaction of $353,427.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 64,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,219,680.32. The trade was a 13.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $4,997,076.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,253,964.40. This represents a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 262,035 shares of company stock valued at $9,312,568. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.