Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Intel Put Options (NASDAQ:INTC)

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 471,563 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 81% compared to the typical volume of 260,841 put options.

Intel Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ INTC traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.00. 61,225,458 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,332,656. 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 has a 1-year low of $26.85 and a 1-year high of $51.28. The stock has a market cap of $127.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.05.

Intel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. Intel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Insider Transactions at Intel

In related news, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $31.42 per share, with a total value of $125,680.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,108,340.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger acquired 4,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.29 per share, with a total value of $124,189.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,192,668.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.42 per share, for a total transaction of $125,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,108,340.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Intel by 8.3% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 121,971 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $5,387,000 after purchasing an additional 9,361 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its stake in Intel by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 12,368 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Intel by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 53,347 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $2,356,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intel by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,503,577 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $243,093,000 after buying an additional 970,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Intel by 0.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 928,169 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $40,997,000 after acquiring an additional 4,920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on INTC. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Intel from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Intel from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. HSBC reduced their target price on Intel from $44.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Intel from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Intel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.75.

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.