HP (NYSE:HPQ) Price Target Cut to $35.00 by Analysts at Loop Capital

HP (NYSE:HPQ) had its price target cut by Loop Capital from $37.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the computer maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on HPQ. Barclays cut their price objective on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HP has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $35.55.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of HPQ stock opened at $33.82 on Thursday. HP has a 1 year low of $25.22 and a 1 year high of $39.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.37 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that HP will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.2756 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. HP’s payout ratio is 37.16%.

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

Insider Activity at HP

In related news, insider Alex Cho sold 173,137 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.11, for a total transaction of $6,251,977.07. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,335,450.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HPQ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HP in the 4th quarter worth about $187,264,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in HP by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,778,246 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $3,649,919,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,441 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in HP by 1,472.4% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,264,081 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $68,126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,120,096 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in HP in the 2nd quarter worth about $62,672,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in HP by 10,188.2% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,777,912 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $53,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,631 shares during the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.