HP Wins Approval for Compaq Settlement

Hewlett-Packard Co. won a judge’s approval for a $28.6-million settlement of a lawsuit by shareholders who claimed Compaq Computer Corp. executives made false, optimistic statements about the stock while selling their shares.

Stockholder Mark Berger filed the class-action lawsuit in 1998 against Compaq, now part of Hewlett-Packard, in federal court in Houston. The suit claimed that the drop in Compaq’s share price after the executives’ statements hurt investors who bought stock between July 1997 and March 1998.

Hewlett-Packard shares rose 84 cents to $19.59 on the NYSE.