Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on HP (NYSE:HPQ)

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 44,633 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the average volume of 34,273 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HPQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of HP in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research raised HP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on HP from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of HP in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of HP from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at HP

In related news, insider David McQuarrie sold 21,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.98, for a total value of $631,019.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,186,608.40. This represents a 34.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 42,096 shares of company stock valued at $1,218,890 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of HP by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 706,270 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $15,496,000 after buying an additional 11,863 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in HP by 2.8% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,392 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of HP by 149.0% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of HP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,973,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HP by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,501 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Stock Performance

HPQ stock traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.43. 19,207,783 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,300,533. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.60. HP has a 52 week low of $17.56 and a 52 week high of $36.22.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.17. HP had a negative return on equity of 947.78% and a net margin of 4.14%.The company had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.190-3.290 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.690-0.790 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that HP will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. HP’s payout ratio is presently 45.80%.

About HP

HP Inc is a global technology company that develops and sells personal computing and printing products and related services. Its Personal Systems business offers laptops, desktop computers, workstations, gaming PCs, monitors, peripherals and accessories for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations.

Through its Printing business, HP provides home and office printers, commercial printing systems, supplies such as ink and toner, and managed print services. The company also offers software and solutions designed to support device management, security, productivity and digital workflows.

HP serves customers in markets around the world through direct sales, online channels, retailers, distributors and business partners.