Sanford C. Bernstein Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for HP (NYSE:HPQ) Stock

HP (NYSE:HPQ) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $32.00 to $34.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the computer maker’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective points to a potential upside of 3.75% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on HPQ. TD Cowen increased their target price on HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. HSBC lowered shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $39.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, November 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 report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.23.

HP Price Performance

NYSE:HPQ traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.77. 437,258 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,490,932. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.55. HP has a one year low of $27.42 and a one year high of $39.79. The company has a market cap of $31.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.04.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.99 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. HP’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that HP will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $4,997,076.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 89,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,253,964.40. This trade represents a 60.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of HP stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total value of $357,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,002.50. This represents a 63.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 273,035 shares of company stock worth $9,670,068. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HPQ. Old Port Advisors lifted its stake in HP by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 10,116 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HP by 16.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,153,924 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $41,391,000 after buying an additional 160,268 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of HP by 12.4% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 214,072 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $7,679,000 after purchasing an additional 23,693 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in HP by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,007,270 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $37,712,000 after buying an additional 202,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in HP by 47.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 146,608 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $5,259,000 after purchasing an additional 47,230 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.