Intel Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:INTC)

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 471,563 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 81% compared to the typical volume of 260,841 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

INTC has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Intel from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Intel from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Intel in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Intel from $45.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Intel from $48.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intel

In other news, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.42 per share, for a total transaction of $125,680.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,108,340.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $31.42 per share, with a total value of $125,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 35,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,108,340.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger purchased 4,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.29 per share, with a total value of $124,189.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 39,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,192,668.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Millennium Group LLC lifted its holdings in Intel by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 496 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intel in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intel in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intel in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intel in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intel Stock Performance

NASDAQ:INTC opened at $30.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.88. Intel has a 1-year low of $26.85 and a 1-year high of $51.28.

Intel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Intel’s payout ratio is 52.08%.

About Intel

Intel Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells computing and related products and services worldwide. It operates through Client Computing Group, Data Center and AI, Network and Edge, Mobileye, and Intel Foundry Services segments. The company's products portfolio comprises central processing units and chipsets, system-on-chips (SoCs), and multichip packages; mobile and desktop processors; hardware products comprising graphics processing units (GPUs), domain-specific accelerators, and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); and memory and storage, connectivity and networking, and other semiconductor products.