Stock Decoder. HP/HPE Alumni

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From the independent association for former employees of HP and HPE -- and those in the process of leaving. Helping each other with life after HP/HPE. Join at no charge.

2b. Stock Decoder Table (Updated Mar 22, 2023.)

Website operated by volunteers. Not officially endorsed or supported. Comments: info@hpalumni.org

This is the central source information page for our Stock Recovery Process.

Depending on when and how you acquired HP or HPE stock, you may now have stock in up to five (formerly seven) completely separate HP-related companies -- usually in multiple accounts -- and may have missed cash payouts. How many shares of which companies should I have? How much cash should I have received?

This page is one step of our Stock Recovery Process. There is a link to the next step at the end of this page. If you haven't gone through the previous steps to determine which HP-related stocks you should have, start here: hpalumni.org/stock

If you don't have good records -- or did not input your lot-and-cost information into your broker's system -- you can use our spreadsheet to estimate your cost basis for each HP-related stock for any span of HP employment from 7/1/1959 through the 11/1/2000 plan changeover. hpalumni.org/StockSpread

Which companies might I have stock in? Compare the date when you first acquired HP stock with the Record Dates in the left-hand column. The table is sorted by Record Date -- the date used to determine the number of shares or amount of cash each shareholder received.

Examples of how to use the table:

- If you owned any HP stock on 2000-05-02 (May 2, 2000) -- and have not sold all of it -- as of March 2023 you would have stock in six companies: HPInc, Agilent, Keysight, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, DXC, and Micro Focus. You received cash and replacement stock in April 2019 from the Micro Focus "Return of Value." You were paid cash in May 2021 for your former stock in Perspecta.

- If you owned any HP stock on 2015-10-21 (Oct 21, 2015) -- and have not sold all of it -- as of March 2023 you would have stock in four companies: HP Inc, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, DXC, and Micro Focus. You received cash and replacement stock in April 2019 from the Micro Focus "Return of Value." You were paid cash in May 2021 for your former stock in Perspecta.

Members report that brokerages, plan administrators, and transfer agents vary (sometimes dramatically) in how (or if) they make gain/loss and cost basis calculations and in what (if anything) they report to the IRS. As of Mar 2023, no member has reported -- privately or on the HPAA forums -- that their return has been questioned by the IRS due to how they reported the many extremely complex HP-related stock transactions.

If you have stock paperwork or certificates from other related companies:
Agilent and Keysight Autonomy Compaq DEC DXC EDS Micro Focus Perspecta Tandem Other predecessor companies

Join the HPAA Finance Forum.

Next step: Step 3. Where is my stock?

HPAA Stock Decoder Table

The information on this site was developed by a team of former employees using archived SEC filings, contemporaneous press releases, and investor information often no longer available on the HP website.

What happened?
(Step 2)

Find your stock
(Steps 3 and 4)

Cost basis
(Step 6)

Record Date

Event

Old stock symbol

For each share of the old stock owned on that date, you ended up with...

New stock symbol

More info

Check for
unclaimed
stock or dividends

Official Investor FAQ,
with current transfer agent

Basis allocated to old stock
Note 6

Basis allocated
to new
stock
Note 6

In HPAA spread-
sheets?

1947-08-18

HP incorporated in California

Splits

1957-11-06

HP Initial Public Offering (OTC)

HWP

(Traded on the Over The Counter market.)

HWP

1960-09-01

HP stock split 3 for 1

HWP

shares of HWP (the only 3:1 split)

HWP

33%

yes

1961-03-17

HP listed on NYSE

HWP

(Traded on the New York Stock Exchange)

HWP

1970-02-25

HP stock split 2 for 1

HWP

shares of HWP

HWP

50%

yes

1979-06-27

HP stock split 2 for 1

HWP

shares of HWP

HWP

50%

yes

1981-06-17

HP stock split 2 for 1

HWP

shares of HWP

HWP

50%

yes

1983-08-01

HP stock split 2 for 1

HWP

shares of HWP

HWP

50%

yes

1995-03-24

HP stock split 2 for 1

HWP

shares of HWP

HWP

50%

yes

1996-06-21

HP stock split 2 for 1

HWP

shares of HWP

HWP

50%

yes

1998-02-11

HP reincorporated in Delaware

HWP

(Note 3)

HWP

Delaware

2000-05-02

HP spun off Agilent

HWP

0.381

share of Agilent

Details

Delaware

Agilent

78%

22%

yes

2000-09-27

HP stock split 2 for 1

HWP

shares of HWP

HWP

Splits

Delaware

HP Inc
(scroll down)

50%

yes

2002-05-03

HP bought Compaq with HWP shares.

CPQ

0.6325

CPQ holders got fractional share of HWP in exchange (18% over market price)

(CPQ)

Details

Delaware

(n/a)

2002-05-06

HP changed stock symbol from HWP to HPQ

HWP

stock symbol changed to HPQ ("Q" from the Compaq symbol)

HPQ

Details

Delaware

HP Inc
(scroll down)

yes

2006-10-16

Agilent spun off Verigy

0.122

share of Verigy

VRGY

Details

(n/a)

94.22%

5.78%

yes

2008-08-26

HP bought EDS with cash.

EDS

$25

EDS holders got cash from HP in exchange (32% over market price)

Note 5

Details

Delaware

Note 4

(n/a)

2011-07-04

Verigy bought by Advantest (Japan)

VRGY

$15

cash from Advantest in exchange

Note 5

Details

(n/a)

2011-10-31

HP bought Autonomy (UK) with cash.

AUTNF

£25.50

Autonomy holders got cash from HP in exchange (79% over market price)

Note 5

Details

(n/a)

2014-10-22

Agilent spun off Keysight

0.5

share of Keysight

KEYS

Details

Delaware

Keysight

72.39%

27.61%

yes

2015-10-21

HP spun off HPE

HPQ

share of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

HPE

Details

Delaware

HPE

47.15%

52.85%

yes

2015-10-21

Continuing PC and printer company renamed HP Inc.

HPQ

Was "Hewlett-Packard Company" (stock symbol not changed)

HPQ

Details

Delaware

HP Inc
(scroll down)

yes

2017-03-20

HPE Enterprise Services was spun off and merged with CSC, creating DXC

HPE

0.086

share of DXC (via temporary "Everett SpinCo")

DXC

Details

Delaware

DXC

75.10%

SpinCo allocation 24.90%

yes

2017-09-01

HPE Software was spun off and merged with Micro Focus (UK)

HPE

0.137

share of a Micro Focus American Depositary Share (ADS) (via temporary "Seattle SpinCo") Potential 2017 US tax liability

MFGP (US)

Details

US ADSs:
New York

Micro Focus

77.92%

(22.08%)
Basis reset to $29.34 per share for US shareholders Note 7

partly
(see Note 1)

2018-05-25

DXC US Public Sector was spun off and merged with two other companies, creating Perspecta

DXC

0.5

share of Perspecta (via temporary "Ultra SpinCo")

PRSP

Details

Delaware

(n/a)

87.06%

12.94%

2019-04-30

Micro Focus "Return of Value"

MFGP

0.8296

"B Share" of MFGP in exchange, plus $4.30 cash payment.

MFGP (US)

Details
and tax issues

US ADSs:
New York

Micro Focus

(n/a)

no
(see Note 1)

2021-05-06

Perspecta bought for cash by Peraton. PRSP shares have vanished from your account. Either cash was added to your brokerage account or check mailed by approx. 6/2/21.

PRSP

$29.35

cash from Peraton in exchange.

PRSP (Note 5)

Details

Delaware

(n/a)

no
(see Note 1)

2023-01-31

Micro Focus (a UK company) bought for cash by OpenText (a Canadian company.) MFGP shares have vanished from your account. Either cash was added to your brokerage account or check mailed by 2/14/23.

MFGP

532 UK pence (approx $6.30)

cash from OpenText in exchange.

n/a

Details

US ADSs:
New York

Micro Focus

(n/a)

no
(see Note 1)

Claim deadline 2023-05-30

If you received Micro Focus shares between Sep 1, 2017 and Aug 28, 2019 -- as part of the HPE Software spinoff, or otherwise -- you have a potential claim no matter when you disposed of the MFGP shares -- even if you held them until they were purchased by OpenText earlier this year. Very rough estimate of average payout: $0.39 per MFGP ADS -- i.e. $5.30 for every 100 HPE shares owned on Sep 1, 2017. Details, deadline, how to claim: https://www.hpalumni.org/StockMicroFocusSuit

Note 1. Variations in tax accounting. Members have observed that transfer agents, plan administrators, and brokerages vary in how (or if) they track cost basis through the many HP-related stock events -- and how (or if) they report transactions to the IRS. Some members have been able to upload their lot-by-lot cost basis data into their broker's system. The IRS says: "Use Form 8949 to reconcile amounts that were reported to you and the IRS... with the amounts you report on your return." The cost basis calculations in the HPAA spreadsheets are based on the recommendations provided by each company to their shareholders.

Note 2. Market price charts. Published charts, such as on Yahoo Finance, do not always accurately reflect stock splits and other events.

Note 3. HP state of incorporation. The Hewlett-Packard Company was originally incorporated in California in 1947. In 1998, it was reincorporated in Delaware. CA Secretary of State filing

Note 4. EDS state of incorporation. Electronic Data Systems was originally incorporated in Texas. In 1984, it was reincorporated in Delaware. (For unclaimed property related to the 1984-1996 ownership of EDS by General Motors, check Michigan.)

Note 5. Stock of acquired company was "retired" -- i.e. no longer traded. See Where's my stock?

Note 6. At the time of each spinoff or merger, the old company's outside tax counsel provides an opinion on the tax consequences of the transaction for shareholders, including a suggested formula to allocate cost basis between the old stock and the new stock -- with a boldface footnote "THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE TAX ADVICE." Transfer agents, plan administrators, and brokers may have interpreted the transaction differently. For each transaction, we have a copy of that document. See the map of HPAA stock pages for each company: hpalumni.org/StockMap

Note 7. Whether this was one of HPE's original intentions or not, HPE's outside tax counsel advised that the transfer of HPE's software business to the UK-based Micro Focus would be penalized by the US Government as a "corporate inversion" -- a process by which companies move their legal home overseas to reduce their US tax bill. Details: hpalumni.org/StockMFGPDetails

Note 8. Compaq shareholders see hpalumni.org/StockCompaq

Stock of acquired company was "retired" -- i.e. no longer traded. See Where's my stock?

Dates: There are four dates associated with any stock event. The Announcement Date. The Record Date, used in this table and specified in the announcement, is the date used to determine the number of shares or amount of cash each shareholder receives. The next stock market business day is the Effective Date. The Distribution Date, usually weeks later, is the actual distribution of the additional shares or cash.

Splits: HP website HPAA Copy

Institutions -- mutual funds, asset managers, brokers, pension plans, etc. -- own or administer some 80% of HP and HPE stock

Next step: Step 3. Where is my stock?

If formerly a regular, direct U.S. employee of HP or HPE -- or are in the process of leaving -- join the HP Alumni Association. No charge, thanks to HPAA's Supporting Members.