Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Rating Lowered to Hold at Benchmark

Benchmark downgraded shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on INTC. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Intel from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Intel from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Wedbush dropped their target price on Intel from $40.00 to $32.50 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Intel from $45.00 to $33.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Intel in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intel presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $32.92.

Intel Trading Down 1.4 %

INTC traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 102,369,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,954,605. Intel has a twelve month low of $19.29 and a twelve month high of $51.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.52. The stock has a market cap of $84.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The chip maker reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.08). The company 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 1.82%. Intel’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.05) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Intel will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Intel Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. Intel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intel

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INTC. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Intel by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 3,662 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Intel by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 41,074 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Intel by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 5,974 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich grew its position in Intel by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 22,179 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Intel by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,730 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.

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.