JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for HP (NYSE:HPQ) Stock Price

HP (NYSE:HPQ) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $42.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the computer maker’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Bank of America lowered shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup downgraded shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.45.

HP Trading Up 0.6 %

HPQ opened at $38.13 on Wednesday. HP has a twelve month low of $27.42 and a twelve month high of $39.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.35.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99.48. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in HP by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,801,428 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,871,046,000 after purchasing an additional 3,923,161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in HP by 11.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,770,491 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $885,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,977 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of HP by 6.2% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 22,451,096 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $786,237,000 after buying an additional 1,319,731 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of HP by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,184,306 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $508,791,000 after buying an additional 1,455,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of HP by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,710,450 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $375,079,000 after buying an additional 1,089,848 shares in the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.