Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on HP (NYSE:HPQ)

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 20,801 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 57% compared to the average daily volume of 13,207 call options.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of HPQ opened at $36.54 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.29. The company has a market capitalization of $35.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a fifty-two week low of $25.95 and a fifty-two week high of $39.52.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

HP declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the computer maker to repurchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HPQ. Bank of America lowered HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup 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 Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares in the company, valued at $99.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company 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. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HP in the third quarter valued at $247,000. Maia Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in shares of HP by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 228,114 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $8,182,000 after purchasing an additional 23,977 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in HP by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 7,734 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in HP by 6.2% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 195,618 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $7,017,000 after purchasing an additional 11,458 shares in the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.