HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Short Interest Up 11.7% in August

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) saw a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,490,000 shares, an increase of 11.7% from the August 15th total of 27,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HPQ. Bank of America increased their price target on HP from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on HP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of HP from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of HP from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of HP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.55.

HP Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE HPQ opened at $34.57 on Wednesday. HP has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $39.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.95. The firm has a market cap of $33.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.07.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.37 billion. HP had a net margin of 5.33% and a negative return on equity of 266.37%. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that HP will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $7,013,373.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares in the company, valued at $99.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Alex Cho sold 173,137 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.11, for a total transaction of $6,251,977.07. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 64,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,335,450.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 211,501 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of HP by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,778,246 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $3,649,919,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062,441 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in HP by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 22,451,096 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $786,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319,731 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in HP by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 12,674,646 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $383,028,000 after purchasing an additional 403,355 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in HP by 11.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,710,450 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $375,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of HP by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,172,444 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $306,089,000 after purchasing an additional 40,884 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.