Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) Short Interest Up 10.7% in December

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 116,390,000 shares, an increase of 10.7% from the December 15th total of 105,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 68,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Intel Stock Performance

INTC traded up $1.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.49. The stock had a trading volume of 163,396,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,908,592. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.32. Intel has a 1-year low of $18.51 and a 1-year high of $50.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The chip maker reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.44). Intel had a negative return on equity of 1.71% and a negative net margin of 29.42%. The business had revenue of $13.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Intel will post -0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Intel news, EVP Michelle Johnston Holthaus sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 273,258 shares in the company, valued at $7,104,708. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Intel by 74.1% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 12,043 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,124 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in Intel by 173.6% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 17,959 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 11,394 shares in the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Intel by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 6,883 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intel by 10.7% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 146,133 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $4,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Intel by 3.9% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 172,185 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $5,333,000 after buying an additional 6,404 shares during the period. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

INTC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Intel in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Intel in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Intel in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Intel from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.88.

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.