Bank of America Lowers HP (NYSE:HPQ) to Neutral

Bank of America lowered shares of HP (NYSE:HPQ) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $37.00 target price on the computer maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of HP from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on HP from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HP currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $35.55.

HP Stock Down 3.9 %

HPQ stock opened at $35.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a 12-month low of $25.22 and a 12-month high of $39.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.24.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.37 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that HP will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

HP announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the computer maker to purchase up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sawyer & Company Inc lifted its position in HP by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 1,000 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of HP by 377.9% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in HP during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new position in HP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors 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.