HP (NYSE:HPQ) Stock Price Down 7.4% After Analyst Downgrade

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)’s stock price dropped 7.4% on Friday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $38.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. HP traded as low as $29.98 and last traded at $30.66. Approximately 1,788,191 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 5,935,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.13.

HPQ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. HSBC lowered HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Hsbc Global Res lowered HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.59.

Insider Transactions at HP

In other HP news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of HP stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total transaction of $357,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,002.50. The trade was a 63.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were 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 $3,253,964.40. The trade was a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 262,737 shares of company stock valued at $9,316,641 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HPQ. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in HP in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in HP in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in HP in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HP Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $28.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.84.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.35 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. On average, research analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.93%.

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.