HP Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HPQ)

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 50,951 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 76% compared to the average daily volume of 28,891 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of HP from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on HP from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded HP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded HP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on HP from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.33.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HPQ opened at $28.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.19. HP has a 52-week low of $17.56 and a 52-week high of $29.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.28.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The computer maker reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.14. HP had a negative return on equity of 581.36% and a net margin of 4.45%.The firm had revenue of $14.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.610-0.710 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that HP will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. HP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HP news, insider David P. Mcquarrie sold 10,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $259,732.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 92,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,275,496. This trade represents a 10.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HP

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HPQ. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of HP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HP in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in HP during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in HP during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in HP during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.