HP’s (HPQ) “Underperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Bank of America

HP (NYSE:HPQ)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reissued by Bank of America in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $20.00 price objective on the computer maker’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $26.00. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.66% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of HP from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of HP from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on HP from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on HP from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of HP in a report on Monday, December 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.31.

HP Price Performance

Shares of HPQ traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,336,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,105,379. HP has a 52-week low of $18.32 and a 52-week high of $35.28. The company has a market cap of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.11, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.21.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The computer maker reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. HP had a negative return on equity of 330.68% and a net margin of 4.57%.The firm had revenue of $14.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.200 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.730-0.810 EPS. Research analysts predict that HP will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HP news, insider Anneliese Olson sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.83, for a total transaction of $415,306.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 169 shares in the company, valued at $4,196.27. This represents a 99.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Enrique Lores sold 41,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.00, for a total transaction of $1,089,972.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 141,456 shares in the company, valued at $3,677,856. This trade represents a 22.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 91,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,277,993. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in HP by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 37,352 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,983 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in HP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Stevens Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of HP by 246.0% during the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 33,341 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 23,704 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in HP by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 859,581 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $19,151,000 after purchasing an additional 30,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of HP by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,977,716 shares of the computer maker’s stock valued at $43,747,000 after purchasing an additional 103,175 shares during the period. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HP News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting HP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts/commentary argue HP is deeply undervalued with strong free cash flow, a ~6%+ yield and an aggressive cost-reduction plan that could protect margins and unlock value for income investors. HP Inc.: A Share Cannibal Trading At Cycle Lows
• Neutral Sentiment: HP set a live webcast for Q1 FY2026 results on Feb 24 — a scheduled opportunity for management to clarify near-term outlook and cost-savings progress, which could reduce uncertainty if commentary is constructive. HP Inc. to Announce First-Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings on Feb 24, 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: The board named director Bruce Broussard as interim CEO effective immediately — a stabilizing measure but one that leaves strategic direction unclear until a permanent CEO is appointed. HP appoints Bruce Broussard as interim CEO
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Enrique Lores is leaving to become PayPal’s CEO — a sudden exit of a sitting CEO increases near-term execution risk and prompted immediate market selling as investors reassess leadership continuity and strategy. HP CEO Lores steps down, to be replaced by Broussard on interim basis PayPal hires HP’s Enrique Lores as its new CEO
• Negative Sentiment: HP updated FY2026 EPS guidance to $2.90–3.20 and Q1 EPS to $0.73–0.81, both modestly below consensus — this guidance miss is a key near-term negative driver and likely explains part of today’s weakness.

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.