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

Key Points

• Traders purchased a notable 22,481 call options for HP Inc., reflecting an increase of approximately 46% compared to its average daily volume.
• HP's stock recently saw a price increase to $25.88 per share, despite reports of missing quarterly earnings estimates and a relatively low PE ratio of 9.98.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2894 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.47%, with a payout ratio of 44.79%.

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 22,481 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseof46% compared to the average daily volume of 15,420 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HPQ shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of HP from $35.00 to $25.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of HP from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $28.00 price target on shares of HP and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of HP from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of HP from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.54.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HP by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 9,636 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of HP by 1.2% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 31,030 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of HP by 4.4% in the first quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 8,747 shares of the computer maker's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of HP by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 45,729 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of HP by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HP Price Performance

Shares of HPQ stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.81. The company had a trading volume of 12,644,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,326,739. HP has a fifty-two week low of $21.21 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The company's fifty day moving average is $25.33 and its 200 day moving average is $27.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The computer maker reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $13.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.09 billion. HP had a net margin of 4.64% and a negative return on equity of 244.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that HP will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.2894 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. HP's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.79%.

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.