Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Shares Up 1.5%

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $44.60 and last traded at $44.41. 14,224,951 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 44,682,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on INTC. Mizuho lowered their price target on Intel from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America upgraded Intel from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Benchmark increased their target price on Intel from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Intel from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on Intel from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intel presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.48.

Intel Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $186.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.03.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The chip maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. Intel had a return on equity of 1.64% and a net margin of 3.11%. The firm had revenue of $15.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Intel Co. will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Intel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. Intel's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intel

In related news, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $43.36 per share, with a total value of $130,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 28,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,234,676. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Intel news, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger acquired 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $42.74 per share, for a total transaction of $119,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,336,693.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $43.36 per share, with a total value of $130,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,234,676. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in shares of Intel by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 496 shares of the chip maker's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Intel during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 64.53% of the stock is currently 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.