Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Trims Holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 329,430 shares of the computer maker’s stock after selling 23,576 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in HP were worth $9,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPQ. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of HP by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 866 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HP in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA acquired a new stake in HP in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in HP by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at HP

In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other HP news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of HP stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $269,338.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total value of $1,199,278.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,381.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,723 shares of company stock worth $3,479,287 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

HP Stock Performance

Shares of HPQ stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $28.42. 4,347,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,809,737. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.93. HP Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.22 and a 12-month high of $33.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.06.

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

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.