INTC was upgraded to "overweight" by Keybanc
The shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) are down 0.5% at $59.04 at last check, dipping alongside the broader market's pullback. Paring further losses today however, is an upgrade by Keybanc to "overweight" from "sector weight," with the firm citing INTC as the "best-positioned company" to take advantage of a technological advance beyond PC's, phones, and tablets -- consistently and quickly launching new products. Following the upgrade, Susquehanna hiked its price target to $58 from $56.
Today's drop is seeing pressure at the 100-day moving average, the trendline of former support that caught INTC's 6.5% drop on June 11. Year-over-year the stock has added 28%.
Coming into today, 10 analysts give Intel Corp a "buy" or better rating, while 13 sport a tepid "hold," and four carry a "strong sell." Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus target price of $63.40 isan 8.1% premium to current levels.
Despite calls outnumbering puts on an absolute basis, the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.90 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sits in the 83rd percentile of its annual range. This suggests puts are being picked up at a faster-than-usual clip.
That said, speculating on INTC's next move with options could be a prudent play. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 39% stands higher than just 23% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment.