Intel Co. (INTC) Short Interest Down 6.9% in February

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 53,606,711 shares, a decrease of 6.9% from the January 31st total of 57,576,557 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 22,884,932 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Shares of NASDAQ:INTC opened at $53.30 on Friday. Intel has a one year low of $42.36 and a one year high of $57.60. The firm has a market cap of $245.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

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Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 24th. The chip maker reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.06. Intel had a return on equity of 30.08% and a net margin of 29.72%. The company had revenue of $18.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Intel will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Intel announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the chip maker to reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 6th. This is an increase from Intel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Intel’s dividend payout ratio is 27.51%.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on INTC shares. Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Intel in a report on Tuesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Intel in a research note on Friday, January 25th. ValuEngine raised Intel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 13th. BidaskClub raised Intel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $42.00 price target on Intel and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

In other Intel news, CEO Robert Holmes Swan acquired 5,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $46.74 per share, with a total value of $245,992.62. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,408,147.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andy D. Bryant sold 11,734 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.03, for a total value of $622,254.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,784 shares of company stock valued at $2,287,569 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Next Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Stevens First Principles Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Intel in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intel by 86.7% in the third quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.07% of the company’s stock.

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About Intel

Intel Corporation offers computing, networking, data storage, and communication solutions worldwide. It operates through Client Computing Group, Data Center Group, Internet of Things Group, Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group, Programmable Solutions Group, and All Other segments. The company offers microprocessors, and system-on-chip and multichip packaging products.

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