Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 119,660,000 shares, a growth of 31.3% from the July 31st total of 91,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 60,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Intel from $29.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Intel from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark cut Intel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Daiwa America raised Intel to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut Intel from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.04.

Intel Price Performance

INTC stock opened at $22.04 on Friday. Intel has a 1 year low of $18.84 and a 1 year high of $51.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.24 and its 200-day moving average is $33.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The chip maker reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $12.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Intel had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 1.78%. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.05) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Intel will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. Intel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger acquired 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.16 per share, with a total value of $252,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $765,576. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in INTC. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Intel during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Intel during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Intel in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Intel during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Intel during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.