Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $737.44.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on INTU shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank began coverage on Intuit in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Intuit from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Intuit Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Intuit stock opened at $645.29 on Friday. Intuit has a 1 year low of $557.29 and a 1 year high of $714.78. 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 capitalization of $180.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $644.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $635.54.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.14. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Intuit will post 14.07 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is 40.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total transaction of $15,856,983.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 489 shares in the company, valued at $325,664.22. The trade was a 97.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.82, for a total value of $48,136,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,378,105 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 188,589 shares of company stock valued at $123,328,338 over the last ninety days. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INTU. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuit in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuit during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuit during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Intuit during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Intuit by 110.3% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 61 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 83.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.