HP (NYSE:HPQ) Stock Falls 4.7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) fell 4.7% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $30.56 and last traded at $30.9260. Approximately 1,933,140 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 17,868,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on HPQ. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of HP in a report on Thursday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on HP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of HP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of HP in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of HP from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.77.

HP Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $27.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.54.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer maker reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.44 billion. HP had a negative return on equity of 947.78% and a net margin of 4.14%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.190-3.290 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.690-0.790 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that HP Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David McQuarrie sold 31,572 shares of HP stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.12, for a total transaction of $1,014,092.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,008 shares in the company, valued at $257,216.96. The trade was a 79.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,668 shares of company stock worth $2,232,982. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of HP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HP during the second quarter worth $2,357,757,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in HP in the second quarter valued at $545,984,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in HP during the second quarter worth about $180,689,000. Man Group plc purchased a new position in HP during the second quarter worth about $149,223,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in HP in the 2nd quarter worth about $140,172,000. 77.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HP Company Profile

HP Inc (NYSE: HPQ) is a global technology company that develops and sells personal computing and printing products, services, and solutions. Its portfolio includes laptops, desktop computers, workstations, monitors, accessories, and other peripherals for consumers and businesses.

The company’s printing business provides printers, multifunction devices, digital presses, supplies such as ink and toner, and related services and solutions. HP also offers managed print services, device and lifecycle management, and other technology services designed to support workplace productivity and hybrid work environments.

HP traces its origins to Hewlett-Packard, founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard.