Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Acquires 7,019 Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its holdings in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,990 shares of the computer maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,019 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in HP were worth $685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of HP from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of HP from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 15,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $453,734.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total value of $613,817.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,814.81. This represents a 99.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Performance

HP stock opened at $27.91 on Thursday. HP Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.10 and a fifty-two week high of $39.80. The stock has a market cap of $26.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.86.

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

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. HP’s payout ratio is presently 41.37%.

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.