Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

INTU has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $757.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuit currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $737.44.

Intuit Stock Down 0.9 %

INTU stock opened at $634.62 on Friday. Intuit has a 52 week low of $557.29 and a 52 week high of $714.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $177.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $634.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $631.24.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Intuit will post 14.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In other news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $637.19, for a total value of $1,568,124.59. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,453,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,111,853,974.95. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $617.28, for a total value of $2,469,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 452 shares in the company, valued at $279,010.56. This trade represents a 89.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,265 shares of company stock valued at $35,200,125. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Intuit in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Intuit in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Intuit during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuit in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.