Meritage Portfolio Management Makes New $3.67 Million Investment in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 121,951 shares of the computer maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,670,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPQ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HP by 12.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,509,674 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $3,019,999,000 after buying an additional 12,883,347 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in HP by 4,180.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,516,510 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $286,352,000 after purchasing an additional 9,294,209 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of HP by 145.9% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 6,090,872 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $156,535,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613,742 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of HP by 104.6% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,352,558 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $112,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HP in the third quarter worth $54,302,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

HP Price Performance

HPQ stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $28.13. The stock had a trading volume of 5,024,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,009,361. The firm has a market cap of $27.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.84. HP Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $33.90.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its quarterly 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 company 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%. HP’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Research analysts predict that HP Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.16%.

Insider Transactions at HP

In other news, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 60,216 shares in the company, valued at $1,807,082.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of HP stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $269,338.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $2,010,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,807,082.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 116,723 shares of company stock valued at $3,479,287. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HPQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. HSBC raised HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.11.

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.