Kristen M. Ludgate Sells 74,356 Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Stock

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 74,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total value of $2,560,077.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,898.67. This trade represents a 56.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

HP Price Performance

HPQ traded down $0.35 during trading on Monday, reaching $34.20. The company had a trading volume of 8,182,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,836,816. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.85. The company has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.04. HP Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.42 and a 12 month high of $39.79.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. HP had a net margin of 5.18% and a negative return on equity of 253.39%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is an increase from HP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. HP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.93%.

HP announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the computer maker to buy up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of HP

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in HP during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in HP by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 968 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in HP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of HP during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC acquired a new position in HP during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.45.

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.