HP (NYSE:HPQ) Sets New 1-Year Low on Insider Selling

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $27.30 and last traded at $27.47, with a volume of 449962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.90.

Specifically, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 $4,814.81. This trade represents a 99.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 15,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $453,734.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HPQ. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of HP from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of HP from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.14.

HP Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.91.

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

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.37%.

Institutional Trading of HP

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in HP by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,725 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 6,192 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of HP by 136.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 42,578 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 24,600 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of HP by 11.3% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 526,662 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $18,891,000 after acquiring an additional 53,341 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of HP during the third quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in HP by 41.5% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 50,109 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 14,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

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.