HP, which has lagged behind rivals in the software business, is likely to increase its software holdings through acquisitions, according to the report.

Cowen and Co analyst Peter Goldmacher suggested that HP should buy Red Hat Inc, which sells open-source Linux products and has a market value of $7.8 billion.

Other potential HP takeover targets cited in the article include Symantec Corp, Teradata Corp, Informatica Corp, BMC Software Inc, CommVault Systems Inc and Tibco Software Inc.

If new HP Chief Executive Leon Apotheker can successfully implement the software plan, Barron's said in its March 14 edition, its shares could reach the $60s range in a year.

HP's shares closed at $41.73 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.