HP (NYSE:HPQ) Downgraded to Neutral at Bank of America

HP (NYSE:HPQ) was downgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Briefing.com reports. They presently have a $37.00 price objective on the computer maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 0.41% from the stock’s current price.

HPQ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on HP from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on HP from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.55.

HP Stock Performance

HPQ stock opened at $36.85 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.15. HP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $39.52. The firm has a market cap of $36.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.03). HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. HP’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

HP declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the computer maker to reacquire up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at HP

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HPQ. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of HP by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 401,809 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $12,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,102 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc purchased a new position in HP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in HP by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 106,316 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $3,213,000 after acquiring an additional 22,909 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of HP by 85.9% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 174,585 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $5,275,000 after acquiring an additional 80,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of HP by 1.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,819,100 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $85,193,000 after acquiring an additional 37,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

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.