Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 657,795 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 476,811 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on INTC shares. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on shares of Intel from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reiterated a “reduce” rating on shares of Intel in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Intel from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Intel from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Intel from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.57.

Intel Price Performance

Shares of INTC stock opened at $22.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.22. Intel has a 1-year low of $17.67 and a 1-year high of $37.16. The firm has a market cap of $96.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The chip maker reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.12. Intel had a negative net margin of 35.32% and a negative return on equity of 3.27%. The firm had revenue of $12.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. Intel’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Intel will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intel

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intel during the 4th quarter worth $782,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Intel during the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Intel by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 23,439 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 5,949 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Intel by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 518,962 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $10,405,000 after acquiring an additional 64,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intel by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 154,098 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $3,090,000 after buying an additional 13,192 shares during the last quarter. 64.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.