Vest Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 39.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,394 shares of the computer maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,179 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in HP were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HP in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in HP during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in HP by 115.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of HP in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of HP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at HP

In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total value of $357,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,002.50. This trade represents a 63.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total transaction of $353,427.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 64,676 shares in the company, valued at $2,219,680.32. The trade was a 13.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 273,035 shares of company stock valued at $9,670,068. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on HPQ. Barclays increased their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, HSBC downgraded HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HP presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.23.

HP Price Performance

NYSE HPQ opened at $32.26 on Monday. HP Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.42 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.05.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during 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%. HP’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s dividend payout ratio is 40.93%.

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.