Robert DeFrancesco’s
TechStockProspector.com
November 20, 2011
Big Investors Scooped Up Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)
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Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, $27.99) is getting back on track. Or is it? We will know
more come tomorrow when the company reports fiscal Q4 results after the close.
The stock at least has taken on a firmer tone, rebounding 30% from the September
23 low of $21.50.
The consensus estimates for the October quarter: EPS of $1.13 on revenue of $32.06
billion. The high EPS estimate is $1.18. Looking ahead to fiscal 2012, the consensus
EPS estimate now stands at $4.56, down from $5.35 in the middle of August.
In the October 2011 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector, we pointed out H-P’s low
valuation (when the stock was trading just below $25 a share) and said the company
was not fundamentally broken, but simply working through an intense operational
transition.
Last week, Sterne Agee upgraded Hewlett-Packard to ‘Buy’ with a price target of
$34, saying positive fundamental changes have taken place over the past couple of
months and that the uncertainty surrounding the PC business has been alleviated.
Also last week, H-P named Relational Investor’s Ralph Whitworth to the board. The
activist investment firm in Q3 opened a position of 17.52 million shares. But it
wasn’t alone in establishing a large new holding in H-P: Baupost Group and Paulson
Management started positions of 20.75 million shares and 15.17 million shares,
respectively.
Also in Q3, Dodge & Cox, the #1 investor in H-P, increased its position by 11.97
million shares (it now holds 117.1 million shares worth more than $3.2 billion) and
AllianceBernstein added 11.2 million shares. Other big buyers: Thornburg
Investment Management (new position of 7.5 million shares), Fidelity (added 4.9
million shares) and Hotchkis & Wiley (bought 4 million shares).
For more on the tech sector, see the November 2011 issue of Tech-Stock
Prospector, which is now available at TechStockProspector.com (subscription
required) and in the Amazon.com Kindle store.
We offer 30-day trial subscriptions, including daily Web updates, for just $47.
Here are some of the topics covered in the November 2011 issue:
*Spotlight on Big Data
*Two key players in the Big Data race
*Competition heats up in networking security
*Apple iPhone sales estimates ramp up
*Google headed higher?
*Videogames go social & mobile
*Accelerating growth at Qlik Technologies
*A mid-cap networking company expands its addressable market
*A small-cap tech company deals with a crisis event
*One company benefiting from strong demand for managed security services
*BMC Software struggles to hire & keep sales talent
*Tech Focus: Informatica shows consistent growth
*A winning provider of on-demand talent management solutions
*TSP Deal Report: Buyout speculation in Social CRM
To place an order, simply call TSP Customer Service at 800-392-0998 or visit
TechStockProspector.com
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Tech-Stock Prospector is now available in the Amazon.com Kindle Store in the
Business & Investing section of the online magazine stand.
Here’s the Kindle link: http://www.amzn.com/B004T6Z0ME
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Tech-Stock Prospector Managing Editor Rob DeFrancesco has more than 20
years of experience covering the tech sector. He is a former senior writer with
Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street.
TechStockProspector.com, launched in 2003, is an investment-research service
focused primarily on the networking, storage, security, wireless and software
sectors. Annual subscription: $350.
For more information or to place an order, call 800-392-0998.