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

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 564,055 call options on the company. This is an increase of 35% compared to the average daily volume of 418,189 call options.

Intel Price Performance

Shares of Intel stock opened at $22.74 on Tuesday. Intel has a twelve month low of $18.51 and a twelve month high of $46.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.19 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.82.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The chip maker reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.14). Intel had a negative net margin of 35.32% and a negative return on equity of 3.27%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Intel will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INTC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Intel from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Intel from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Intel from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised Intel from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Intel from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INTC. Finley Financial LLC purchased a new position in Intel in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Intel in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Intel in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Intel in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Intel in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 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.