Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

INTU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Intuit in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $737.44.

Intuit Price Performance

NASDAQ INTU opened at $643.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $180.10 billion, a PE ratio of 62.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $644.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $634.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Intuit has a 52-week low of $557.29 and a 52-week high of $714.78.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Intuit will post 14.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.31, for a total value of $466,015.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,676,430.81. The trade was a 14.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.82, for a total value of $48,136,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,589 shares of company stock worth $123,328,338 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its position in Intuit by 5.4% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 35,902 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $22,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the third quarter valued at approximately $740,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,144,000. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its position in Intuit by 8.0% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 10,857 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,742,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.