Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Trading Up 7.9% – Still a Buy?

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC)’s share price rose 7.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $24.83 and last traded at $24.27. Approximately 107,893,700 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 38% from the average daily volume of 78,058,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INTC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays 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, January 17th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Intel from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Intel from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Intel in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Intel from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intel has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.60.

Intel Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.28 billion, a PE ratio of -5.61 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.71.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The chip maker reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.14). Intel had a negative net margin of 35.32% and a negative return on equity of 3.27%. On average, research analysts expect that Intel Co. will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Finley Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Intel in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Intel in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Intel in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Intel in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Intel by 7,370.6% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intel Company Profile

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.