Zacks Research Upgrades HP (NYSE:HPQ) to Strong-Buy

HP (NYSE:HPQ) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on HPQ. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of HP from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings raised HP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on HP from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of HP in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating on shares of HP in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.17.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of HPQ opened at $31.15 on Monday. HP has a one year low of $17.56 and a one year high of $32.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.40. The company has a market capitalization of $28.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.18.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.44 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 947.78% and a net margin of 4.14%.The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.190-3.290 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.690-0.790 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that HP will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David McQuarrie sold 21,048 shares of HP stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,186,608.40. This trade represents a 34.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,620 shares of company stock valued at $1,478,622. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HPQ. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HP by 3.3% during the second quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,470 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in HP by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 69,579 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,702,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in HP by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 5,020 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in HP by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 20,531 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in HP by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 80,784 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

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.