HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. reduced its position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,046,234 shares of the computer maker's stock after selling 46,048 shares during the period. Conning Inc. owned 0.11% of HP worth $31,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of HP by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 386,485 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $11,629,000 after buying an additional 18,546 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter worth about $1,037,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter worth about $1,583,000. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in shares of HP by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,054 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its position in HP by 83.5% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,183 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HP Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of HPQ traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.53. 7,626,113 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,360,859. HP Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.22 and a 1 year high of $33.90. The firm's fifty day moving average is $29.39 and its 200-day moving average is $28.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.05.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The computer maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.81. The firm had revenue of $13.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.56 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 181.02% and a net margin of 6.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that HP Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.2756 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. HP's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HP news, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total transaction of $1,199,278.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,642,381.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 60,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,807,082.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kristen M. Ludgate sold 41,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 56,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,381.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,723 shares of company stock valued at $3,479,287. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HPQ shares. Barclays upped their price objective on HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com downgraded 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 upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HP currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.11.

HP Company 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.