HP (NYSE:HPQ) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $39.58 and last traded at $39.53, with a volume of 2347595 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HPQ. Barclays cut their price target on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Bank of America downgraded HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.45.

HP Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.40. The company has a market capitalization of $37.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.03). HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the computer maker to repurchase up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HP

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of HP stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99.48. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in HP by 8.1% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 20,599 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in HP by 3,567.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 34,143 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 33,212 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in HP by 1.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,191,666 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $36,013,000 after buying an additional 15,675 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in HP by 0.8% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 132,919 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $4,017,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in HP by 2.4% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 384,220 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $11,611,000 after buying an additional 8,831 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is 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.