Daiwa Capital Markets Begins Coverage on Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU)

Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, The Fly reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $444.00 price objective on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on INTU. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Intuit from $457.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 27th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Intuit from $490.00 to $465.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Intuit from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. Credit Suisse Group began coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Monday, November 21st. They set an outperform rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Intuit from $525.00 to $475.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuit currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $483.53.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INTU opened at $413.69 on Wednesday. Intuit has a fifty-two week low of $339.36 and a fifty-two week high of $507.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $408.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $404.01. The company has a market capitalization of $116.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The software maker reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.76. Intuit had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Intuit will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. Intuit’s payout ratio is 45.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuit news, Director Eve B. Burton sold 4,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.57, for a total value of $1,872,655.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Intuit news, Director Eve B. Burton sold 4,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.57, for a total value of $1,872,655.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michelle M. Clatterbuck sold 545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $421.38, for a total value of $229,652.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,863. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,925 shares of company stock worth $3,258,123 over the last quarter. 3.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intuit

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Intuit by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 806 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Intuit by 3.7% during the third quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 706 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in shares of Intuit by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Intuit by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 646 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Intuit by 3.6% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 739 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.65% of the company’s stock.

About Intuit

(Get Rating)

Intuit, Inc engages in the provision of business and financial management solutions. It operates through the following segments: Small Business and Self-Employed, Consumer, Credit Karma, and ProConnect. The Small Business and Self-Employed segment offers QuickBooks financial and business management online services and desktop software, payroll solutions, payment processing solutions, and financing for small businesses.