Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 7,027,874 HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,027,874 shares of the computer maker’s stock, valued at approximately $229,320,000. Norges Bank owned 0.75% of HP as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi boosted its position in HP by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,561,399 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $217,319,000 after purchasing an additional 899,349 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 16.1% during the 3rd 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. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 169.3% during the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 34,682 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 21,805 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of HP by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 146,608 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $5,259,000 after buying an additional 47,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in HP by 35.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 62,523 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $2,243,000 after buying an additional 16,207 shares during the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HP Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of HPQ stock opened at $27.90 on Monday. HP Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.43 and a 1 year high of $39.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. The business had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.35 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on HPQ. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Cowen cut their target price on HP from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.14.

Insider Activity at HP

In other news, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total value of $613,817.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,814.81. This represents a 99.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 15,646 shares of HP stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $453,734.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.