Argyle Capital Management Inc. Cuts Position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 25.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,675 shares of the computer maker’s stock after selling 11,400 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in HP were worth $983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in HP by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 18,876 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of HP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of HP by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 6,751 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of HP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $273,000. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in shares of HP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,670,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HPQ. Barclays upped their target price on shares of HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased 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 given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HP currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.11.

Insider Transactions at HP

In other news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $269,338.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 8,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $269,338.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert R. Bennett sold 67,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $2,010,670.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,807,082.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,723 shares of company stock valued at $3,479,287 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

HP Trading Down 0.5 %

HPQ stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.00. 5,356,232 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,076,379. HP Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $33.90. The stock has a market cap of $27.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.19, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.27 and its 200 day moving average is $28.88.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The computer maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81. The business had revenue of $13.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.56 billion. HP had a net margin of 6.45% and a negative return on equity of 181.02%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.2756 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.16%.

About HP

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.