KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Position in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 495,316 shares of the computer maker’s stock, valued at approximately $16,285,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of HP by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,941,573 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $161,244,000 after acquiring an additional 237,845 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in HP by 43.9% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 91,339 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $2,980,000 after purchasing an additional 27,885 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in HP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $522,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in HP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,000. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in HP by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 298,168 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $9,729,000 after purchasing an additional 29,080 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HP Stock Performance

NYSE:HPQ opened at $28.63 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.88 and its 200 day moving average is $34.17. HP Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.43 and a fifty-two week high of $39.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.09.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The computer maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. HP had a negative return on equity of 253.39% and a net margin of 5.18%. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.35 billion. Equities analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.2894 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. HP’s payout ratio is 41.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HP news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total value of $357,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,277 shares in the company, valued at $204,002.50. This trade represents a 63.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on HP from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded HP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on HP from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on HP from $37.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.14.

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.