Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 161,139 Shares of HP Inc. $HPQ

Key Points

• Lazard Asset Management reduced its HP stake by 7%, selling 161,139 shares during the first quarter and retaining 2.16 million shares valued at approximately $41.4 million.
• HP reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $0.86 per share and revenue of $14.41 billion, up 9% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30, representing a 4.2% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with HP carrying a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $23.33, below its reported share price of $28.30.

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,157,389 shares of the computer maker's stock after selling 161,139 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.24% of HP worth $41,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of HP in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HP during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in HP during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in HP by 97.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in HP during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company's stock.

HP Price Performance

HPQ stock opened at $28.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.19. HP Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.56 and a 1-year high of $29.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.28.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The computer maker reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.14. HP had a negative return on equity of 581.36% and a net margin of 4.45%.The company had revenue of $14.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. HP's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.610-0.710 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. HP's payout ratio is currently 44.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HP

In other news, insider David P. Mcquarrie sold 10,524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $259,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 92,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,275,496. The trade was a 10.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HPQ shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on HP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded HP from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research raised HP from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on HP from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, HP presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $23.33.

HP Company Profile

HP Inc is an American multinational information technology company that designs, manufactures and sells personal computing devices, printers and related supplies and services. Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial notebooks and desktops, workstations, displays and accessories, as well as an extensive line of printing hardware that includes home, office and production printers. HP also provides consumables such as ink and toner, managed print services, device deployment and lifecycle support, and software for device and print management.

Founded from the original Hewlett‑Packard Company, HP Inc became a separately traded public company in 2015 following a corporate split that created Hewlett Packard Enterprise to focus on enterprise hardware and services.

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