HP (NYSE:HPQ) Downgraded by Citigroup to “Neutral”

Citigroup lowered shares of HP (NYSE:HPQ) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $37.00 price objective on the computer maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on HPQ. Bank of America 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 Friday, September 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HP presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $35.55.

HP Price Performance

NYSE:HPQ opened at $34.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $39.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.31.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 EPS 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 net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. HP’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

HP announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the computer maker to buy up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HP

In other news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HP

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WMG Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of HP by 4.2% during the second quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,835 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in HP by 2.9% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,296 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in HP by 11.6% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,568 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in HP by 1.2% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 34,228 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in HP by 9.6% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,506 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. 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.