Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Stock

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $685.00 to $730.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the software maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.04% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on INTU. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $757.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Intuit from $690.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Intuit from $770.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $737.44.

Intuit Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of INTU stock opened at $640.12 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $634.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $631.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.31 billion, a PE ratio of 62.15, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.25. Intuit has a 52-week low of $557.29 and a 52-week high of $714.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.28%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Intuit will post 14.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuit news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.31, for a total value of $466,015.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,676,430.81. This trade represents a 14.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 30,159 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $642.36, for a total transaction of $19,372,935.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,038 shares in the company, valued at $33,427,129.68. This trade represents a 36.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock worth $35,220,046. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intuit

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 1,639 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 2.8% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 582 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in Intuit by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 168 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Gemmer Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Intuit by 3.7% in the second quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 1.5% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

About Intuit

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.