Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Intel Co. (NASDAQ:INTC)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.92, but opened at $24.90. Intel shares last traded at $24.48, with a volume of 19,626,843 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Intel from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on Intel from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Intel from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Intel in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Intel from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.04.

Intel Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.96. The company has a market cap of $103.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 1.02.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The chip maker reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 research analysts anticipate that Intel Co. will post -0.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Intel

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Intel by 7,370.6% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. Finley Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Intel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Intel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.