HP Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HPQ)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 33,182 call options on HP, roughly a 43% increase versus the average daily call volume.
• Shares rose 3.4% to $18.88 on above‑average trading; HP appears undervalued with a trailing PE of 7.15 and pays a 6.4% dividend yield (annualized $1.20).
• HP beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates and set Q2 guidance of $0.700–0.760, but Wall Street is cautious—the stock’s consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average target price of $21.58 after multiple price cuts.

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 33,182 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 43% compared to the average daily volume of 23,229 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of HP by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,481,211 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $40,333,000 after buying an additional 101,844 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of HP by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,071 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $33,139,000 after buying an additional 94,494 shares during the last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S boosted its stake in shares of HP by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 5,754,138 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $156,686,000 after buying an additional 210,762 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its stake in shares of HP by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 1,600,015 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $43,568,000 after buying an additional 92,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of HP by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 400,020 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $10,685,000 after buying an additional 102,825 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company's stock.

HP Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE HPQ traded up $0.62 on Monday, reaching $18.88. 21,981,726 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,636,324. HP has a fifty-two week low of $17.56 and a fifty-two week high of $29.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.94 and a 200 day moving average of $22.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.26 billion, a PE ratio of 7.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.11.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The computer maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.04. HP had a net margin of 4.46% and a negative return on equity of 367.41%. The company had revenue of $14.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. HP has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.700-0.760 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that HP will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. HP's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on HPQ. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of HP in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of HP from $25.00 to $18.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of HP from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of HP from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of HP from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $21.58.

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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