Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on INTU. Barclays decreased their price target on Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Intuit from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuit presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $726.53.

Intuit Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ INTU opened at $611.68 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $171.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.25. Intuit has a 1-year low of $557.29 and a 1-year high of $714.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $642.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $635.95.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Intuit will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $619.28, for a total transaction of $667,583.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,337.92. The trade was a 36.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 6,378,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,093,595,351.10. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 293,014 shares of company stock worth $188,992,187 over the last three months. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Intuit by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 476 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Intuit by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,793 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,911,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Intuit by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 401 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY boosted its stake in Intuit by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 700 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $440,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Intuit by 145.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 813 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.