HP (NYSE:HPQ) Stock Rating Lowered by Bank of America

HP (NYSE:HPQ) was downgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $37.00 price objective on the computer maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.49% from the stock’s previous close.

HPQ has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of HP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays cut their target price on HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on HP from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Loop Capital cut their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.55.

HP Trading Down 3.9 %

NYSE:HPQ opened at $35.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.20. The stock has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.07. HP has a 1-year low of $25.22 and a 1-year high of $39.52.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.03). HP had a negative return on equity of 266.37% and a net margin of 5.33%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

HP declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the computer maker to repurchase up to 28.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HP

In other HP news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $7,013,373.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WMG Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of HP by 4.2% during the second quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,835 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in HP by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,296 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of HP by 11.6% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,568 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 1.2% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 34,228 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of HP by 9.6% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,506 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

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.