Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 18,692 Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its stake in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 881,188 shares of the computer maker’s stock after selling 18,692 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.09% of HP worth $26,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in HP by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 866 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of HP by 116.7% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of HP by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HPQ has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of HP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.11.

HP Price Performance

HPQ stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.00. The company had a trading volume of 4,953,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,971,738. HP Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.22 and a 1 year high of $33.90. The company has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.85.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The computer maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81. HP had a net margin of 6.45% and a negative return on equity of 181.02%. The business had revenue of $13.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict 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 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 yield of 3.94%. HP’s dividend payout ratio 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.