HP (NYSE:HPQ) Price Target Raised to $39.00 at TD Cowen

HP (NYSE:HPQ) had its price objective upped by TD Cowen from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the computer maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on HPQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup downgraded shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of 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. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.32.

HP Stock Down 11.4 %

NYSE HPQ opened at $34.66 on Wednesday. HP has a fifty-two week low of $27.42 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.52. The stock has a market cap of $33.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2894 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.60%.

HP declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HP

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares in the company, valued at $99.48. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HP by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,007,270 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $37,712,000 after acquiring an additional 202,613 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,042,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of HP during the third quarter worth approximately $11,745,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP during the third quarter worth approximately $324,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.