Stock Traders Buy High Volume of HP Call Options (NYSE:HPQ)

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 16,083 call options on the company. This is an increase of 23% compared to the typical daily volume of 13,041 call options.

HP Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of HPQ stock opened at $28.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.83. HP has a twelve month low of $25.22 and a twelve month high of $33.90. The company has a market capitalization of $27.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.05.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The computer maker reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 the consensus estimate of $13.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that HP 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.2756 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. HP’s payout ratio is 32.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of HP stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total value of $1,199,278.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,381.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of HP stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total value of $1,199,278.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,381.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of HP stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $2,010,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,216 shares in the company, valued at $1,807,082.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,723 shares of company stock valued at $3,479,287 in the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HPQ. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of HP by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,328 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of HP by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 11,731 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of HP by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,746 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of HP by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,427 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of HP by 174.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 65,862 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 41,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

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.