Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 18,840 Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 431,344 shares of the computer maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,840 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in HP were worth $14,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HP during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in HP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in HP in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in HP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in HP in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HP Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HPQ opened at $28.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.43 and a 12-month high of $39.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.88 and its 200 day moving average is $34.18.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.35 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.2894 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. HP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HP news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total value of $357,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,002.50. The trade was a 63.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC downgraded HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, November 29th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. StockNews.com upgraded HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.14.

HP 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.