Simplicity Solutions LLC Sells 988 Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Simplicity Solutions LLC cut its position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,470 shares of the computer maker’s stock after selling 988 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in HP were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in HP by 12.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,509,674 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $3,019,999,000 after purchasing an additional 12,883,347 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in HP by 114,461.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,538,630 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $310,043,000 after purchasing an additional 11,528,558 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in HP by 4,180.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,516,510 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $286,352,000 after purchasing an additional 9,294,209 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $151,025,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in HP by 145.9% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 6,090,872 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $156,535,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613,742 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HP Stock Down 0.3 %

HPQ opened at $27.62 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.77. The company has a market capitalization of $27.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.05. HP Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.22 and a 52 week high of $33.90.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The computer maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.81. The company had revenue of $13.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.56 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 181.02% and a net margin of 6.45%. HP’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.2756 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. HP’s payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HPQ. HSBC upgraded HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HP news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $269,338.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other HP news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $269,338.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total value of $1,199,278.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,381.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,723 shares of company stock worth $3,479,287 in the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HP Company 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.