HP (NYSE:HPQ) Trading Down 4.2%

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) shares fell 4.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $34.26 and last traded at $34.36. 512,989 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 7,981,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HPQ shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup cut shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America downgraded HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HP presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.55.

HP Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.37 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $7,013,373.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HPQ. Sawyer & Company Inc boosted its stake in HP by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 1,000 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of HP by 377.9% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of HP in the second quarter worth $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in HP during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

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.