Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on INTU. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Intuit from $670.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Intuit from $642.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Intuit from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Intuit from $600.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $650.23.

Intuit Stock Performance

Shares of INTU stock opened at $625.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $175.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $639.51 and its 200 day moving average is $604.93. Intuit has a one year low of $400.22 and a one year high of $671.01.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The software maker reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.39 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Intuit will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Intuit’s payout ratio is 36.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuit news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.38, for a total transaction of $178,186.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Intuit news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.38, for a total transaction of $178,186.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 3,692 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $663.84, for a total transaction of $2,450,897.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,233,800.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $3,117,156. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at $2,101,848,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 173.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,687,583 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,304,850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,336,654 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at $467,852,000. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 119.0% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,338,139 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $836,377,000 after purchasing an additional 727,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 60,534.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 472,952 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $295,609,000 after purchasing an additional 472,172 shares in the last quarter. 83.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intuit Company Profile

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.