HP Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HPQ)

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 17,909 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,988 call options.

HP Stock Down 1.1 %

HPQ stock opened at $32.65 on Friday. HP has a 52 week low of $25.22 and a 52 week high of $33.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.06.

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

HP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be issued a $0.2756 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $2,010,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,807,082.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $2,010,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,807,082.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $269,338.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,723 shares of company stock worth $3,479,287. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in HP by 84.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 866 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HP during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sawyer & Company Inc lifted its holdings in HP by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 1,000 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in HP by 116.7% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in HP by 377.9% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HPQ shares. Barclays raised shares of HP from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of HP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

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.