HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Shares Acquired by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,038 shares of the computer maker’s stock after buying an additional 14,334 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in HP were worth $3,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HP in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of HPQ opened at $30.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.76 and a 200-day moving average of $34.65. HP Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.42 and a 52 week high of $39.79.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.35 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HPQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on HP from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on HP from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alex Cho sold 40,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.80, for a total value of $1,401,987.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,250,724.80. This trade represents a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 137,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $4,997,076.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,253,964.40. This trade represents a 60.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 262,737 shares of company stock valued at $9,316,641. Insiders own 0.38% 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.