HP (NYSE:HPQ) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $30.00. The stock had previously closed at $27.11, but opened at $28.38. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. HP shares last traded at $28.07, with a volume of 4,517,044 shares traded.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on HP from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of HP from $38.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of HP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of HP from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, KGI Securities started coverage on shares of HP in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.96.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HPQ. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in HP by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 639,423 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $20,864,000 after acquiring an additional 122,289 shares during the period. BayBridge Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HP during the 1st quarter valued at $1,505,000. Meritage Portfolio Management increased its position in shares of HP by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 140,632 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 38,568 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of HP by 2,669.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 11,519 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 11,103 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of HP in the 1st quarter worth about $627,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Up 4.7%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $25.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.85. The company has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.29.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The computer maker reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75. HP had a net margin of 4.83% and a negative return on equity of 244.76%. The firm had revenue of $13.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. HP has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.870-0.97 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th 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 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. HP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.79%.

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.