Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Trading Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) were up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $24.32 and last traded at $23.82. Approximately 46,766,591 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 101,185,391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on INTC shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Intel from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Intel from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Intel in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Intel from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.04.

Intel Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $104.21 billion, a PE ratio of -5.50 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its quarterly 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Intel Co. will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Finley Financial LLC purchased a new position in Intel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Intel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Intel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Intel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Intel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $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.