HP (NYSE:HPQ) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $31.30 and last traded at $31.6840, with a volume of 619326 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of HP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on HP from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on HP from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on HP from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $23.50.

HP Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $27.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $25.11 and its 200 day moving average is $21.90.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The computer maker reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.14. HP had a net margin of 4.45% and a negative return on equity of 581.36%. The business had revenue of $14.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’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 expect that HP Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. HP’s payout ratio is presently 44.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HP news, insider David P. Mcquarrie sold 21,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.98, for a total value of $631,019.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 39,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,186,608.40. The trade was a 34.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 52,620 shares of company stock valued at $1,478,622 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in HP in the second quarter worth about $2,357,757,000. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of HP by 242.2% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 10,594,630 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $236,048,000 after buying an additional 7,498,202 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of HP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $149,309,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of HP during the second quarter valued at approximately $140,172,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in HP by 186.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,378,723 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $228,153,000 after acquiring an additional 5,449,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

About HP

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.