Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $730.00 target price on the software maker’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $530.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Intuit from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuit presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.88.

Intuit Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:INTU opened at $613.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $605.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $627.25. The company has a market capitalization of $171.82 billion, a PE ratio of 59.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 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 has a 52-week low of $553.24 and a 52-week high of $714.78.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark P. Notarainni sold 3,649 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.68, for a total transaction of $2,359,735.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,286.92. The trade was a 99.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $619.28, for a total value of $667,583.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,337.92. This represents a 36.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,014 shares of company stock valued at $140,855,687. 2.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intuit

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 43 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.