Brokerages Set HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Price Target at $33.11

Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.11.

Several research firms have weighed in on HPQ. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. HSBC upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Transactions at HP

In other news, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total value of $1,199,278.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,381.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $2,010,670.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,216 shares in the company, valued at $1,807,082.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total transaction of $1,199,278.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,381.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 116,723 shares of company stock worth $3,479,287. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in HP by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 866 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in HP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sawyer & Company Inc raised its position in HP by 900.0% in the first quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 1,000 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in HP by 116.7% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in HP by 377.9% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Performance

NYSE HPQ opened at $28.00 on Tuesday. HP has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $33.90. The company has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.27 and a 200-day moving average of $28.86.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The computer maker reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81. HP had a net margin of 6.45% and a negative return on equity of 181.02%. The company had revenue of $13.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that HP will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.2756 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. HP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.16%.

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.