Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 101,792 Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 599,946 shares of the computer maker’s stock after selling 101,792 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.06% of HP worth $19,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of HP by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 11,467 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its position in HP by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 8,650 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of HP by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,648 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of HP by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 12,265 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in HP by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 20,384 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of HP stock opened at $28.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.06. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.43 and a 12-month high of $39.80.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.35 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s payout ratio is currently 41.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HPQ. HSBC downgraded HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res cut HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HP presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 15,646 shares of the business’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.