Barclays Boosts HP (NYSE:HPQ) Price Target to $35.00

HP (NYSE:HPQ) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Barclays from $32.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the computer maker’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 0.98% from the company’s previous close.

HPQ has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup cut HP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.32.

HP Stock Performance

HP stock opened at $34.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a 52 week low of $27.42 and a 52 week high of $39.79.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that HP will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

HP announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the computer maker to buy up to 28.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in HP during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of HP in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of HP by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 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.