Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stake in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 25.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 279,165 shares of the computer maker’s stock after buying an additional 56,874 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in HP were worth $9,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HPQ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HP by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,038 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 1,884 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HP by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,413 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HP by 2,201.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 107,820 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $38,680,000 after buying an additional 103,136 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HP in the 3rd quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in HP by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 214,297 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $7,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at HP

In related news, insider Alex Cho sold 10,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total value of $353,427.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,219,680.32. This trade represents a 13.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 74,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total transaction of $2,560,077.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,898.67. This represents a 56.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 273,035 shares of company stock valued at $9,670,068 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HP Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of HP stock opened at $34.63 on Friday. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The company has a market cap of $32.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.84.

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

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HPQ. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. HSBC lowered shares of HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, November 29th. 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 research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of HP from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.68.

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.