abrdn plc Increases Stock Position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 22.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,172,242 shares of the computer maker’s stock after buying an additional 212,458 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in HP were worth $35,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in HP by 84.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 866 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HP during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in HP by 116.7% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in HP during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in HP by 47.9% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HPQ shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $269,338.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $269,338.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total transaction of $1,199,278.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,642,381.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,723 shares of company stock worth $3,479,287 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Down 0.4 %

HPQ opened at $27.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.05. HP Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $33.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.83.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The computer maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.81. HP had a net margin of 6.45% and a negative return on equity of 181.02%. The firm had revenue of $13.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. HP’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.2756 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.16%.

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.