HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 31,693,604 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the July 14th total of 27,879,616 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 9,505,747 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.
HPQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of HP in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Zacks Investment Research lowered HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Jefferies Group LLC raised their target price on HP from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Bank of America Corporation raised their target price on HP from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on HP from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $19.89.
HP (NYSE:HPQ) opened at 18.51 on Friday. HP has a 1-year low of $13.55 and a 1-year high of $19.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.95. The firm has a market cap of $31.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 1.90.
HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 24th. The computer maker reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. HP had a net margin of 4.94% and a negative return on equity of 68.86%. The business had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that HP will post $1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.1327 per share. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 12th. HP’s payout ratio is 37.32%.
In other news, COO Jon E. Flaxman sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.26, for a total value of $639,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 62,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,135,826.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Margaret C. Whitman sold 221,960 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.36, for a total value of $4,297,145.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 692,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,413,556.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,748,815 shares of company stock valued at $32,623,560 over the last quarter. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in HP during the first quarter worth approximately $833,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in HP during the first quarter worth approximately $443,000. Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. boosted its stake in HP by 106.5% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. now owns 1,462,303 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $26,145,000 after buying an additional 754,019 shares during the last quarter. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB boosted its stake in HP by 2.4% in the second quarter. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB now owns 256,080 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $4,476,000 after buying an additional 6,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Beacon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in HP during the first quarter worth approximately $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.
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About HP
HP Inc is a provider of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses, and enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors. The Company provides personal computing and other access devices, imaging and printing products, and related technologies, solutions and services.
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