Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on INTU. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $768.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered Intuit from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price target for the company from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America upped their price target on Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Intuit from $770.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Intuit in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. They set an outperform rating and a $760.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $735.71.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of INTU stock opened at $603.81 on Monday. Intuit has a 52 week low of $473.56 and a 52 week high of $676.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.79 billion, a PE ratio of 55.70, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $633.29 and its 200-day moving average is $629.73.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 18.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Intuit will post 14.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This is an increase from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is 38.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 2,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.19, for a total transaction of $1,568,124.59. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,453,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,111,853,974.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 2,461 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,453,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,111,853,974.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,676,430.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,297 shares of company stock worth $32,750,926 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 worth $2,304,850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,336,654 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Intuit during the 4th quarter worth about $467,852,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Intuit by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,176,711 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $735,480,000 after buying an additional 416,099 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 940.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 315,670 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $205,186,000 after acquiring an additional 285,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,057,696 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $16,937,502,000 after acquiring an additional 283,291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

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.