HP (NYSE:HPQ) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $36.50. The stock had previously closed at $39.10, but opened at $36.56. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. HP shares last traded at $35.45, with a volume of 2,625,390 shares.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut 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. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares in the company, valued at $99.48. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HPQ. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in HP by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,007,270 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $37,712,000 after buying an additional 202,613 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of HP by 47.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 146,608 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $5,259,000 after acquiring an additional 47,230 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,042,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in HP in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,745,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $324,000. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Trading Down 11.4 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.52. The stock has a market cap of $33.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

HP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2894 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a boost from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.60%.

HP declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.