HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Shares Purchased by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,958 shares of the computer maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in HP were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPQ. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in HP by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 9,703 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 2,105 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $324,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in HP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in HP by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 40,380 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in HP by 54.8% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,268 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $4,997,076.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,272 shares in the company, valued at $3,253,964.40. The trade was a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total transaction of $353,427.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 64,676 shares in the company, valued at $2,219,680.32. This represents a 13.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 273,035 shares of company stock worth $9,670,068. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC cut shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $39.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.23.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HPQ opened at $33.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.05. HP Inc. has a one year low of $27.42 and a one year high of $39.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.86.

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. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.99 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. HP’s payout ratio is currently 40.93%.

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.