Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank began coverage on Intuit in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $530.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $726.53.

Intuit Price Performance

NASDAQ INTU opened at $598.30 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $640.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $635.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $167.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.09, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.25. Intuit has a 1 year low of $557.29 and a 1 year high of $714.78.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Intuit will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 4,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.62, for a total transaction of $2,938,012.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,414,736.20. This represents a 13.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $619.28, for a total transaction of $667,583.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,337.92. This trade represents a 36.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187 over the last 90 days. 2.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Intuit in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuit during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Company Profile

Intuit Inc provides financial management and compliance products and services for consumers, small businesses, self-employed, and accounting professionals in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Small Business & Self-Employed, Consumer, Credit Karma, and ProTax.