CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Stock Holdings in HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its position in shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,847 shares of the computer maker’s stock after selling 8,038 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in HP were worth $3,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Freedom LLC boosted its position in shares of HP by 141.4% during the first quarter. Financial Freedom LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank grew its stake in HP by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 12,177 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in HP by 216.2% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,679 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its stake in HP by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 47,571 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its stake in HP by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 30,727 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on HP from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on HP from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Dbs Bank cut HP from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Bank of America lowered their target price on HP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, KGI Securities initiated coverage on HP in a report on Thursday, May 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.54.

Insider Transactions at HP

In related news, insider Stephanie Liebman sold 15,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $453,734.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anneliese Olson sold 21,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total value of $613,817.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at $4,814.81. This trade represents a 99.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

HP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HPQ opened at $24.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.64. HP Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.21 and a 1 year high of $39.80.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The computer maker reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). HP had a negative return on equity of 244.99% and a net margin of 4.64%. The firm had revenue of $13.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that HP Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2894 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.79%.

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.