Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $737.44.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on INTU shares. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Intuit in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:INTU opened at $636.95 on Friday. Intuit has a 52 week low of $557.29 and a 52 week high of $714.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $643.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $633.69. The company has a market cap of $178.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.84, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced 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 return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. Intuit’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Intuit will post 14.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total value of $15,856,983.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,664.22. This represents a 97.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.82, for a total value of $48,136,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,378,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,093,595,351.10. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,934 shares of company stock worth $74,352,182. Insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Intuit by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,317,086 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $7,648,910,000 after buying an additional 221,885 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intuit by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,978,713 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,701,762,000 after purchasing an additional 80,463 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuit by 2.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,827,671 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,376,984,000 after purchasing an additional 107,482 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Intuit by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,340,555 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,538,236,000 after purchasing an additional 23,995 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Intuit by 4.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,300,789 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,428,790,000 after purchasing an additional 87,517 shares in the last quarter. 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.