Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

INTU has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Intuit in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Intuit from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $530.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuit currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $726.53.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INTU opened at $604.13 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Intuit has a fifty-two week low of $557.29 and a fifty-two week high of $714.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $647.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $637.39. The firm has a market cap of $169.11 billion, a PE ratio of 58.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.25.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Intuit will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.39%.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In related news, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $619.28, for a total value of $667,583.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,337.92. This represents a 36.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total transaction of $15,856,983.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,664.22. The trade was a 97.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Intuit in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Intuit by 110.3% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 61 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Intuit by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 7,517 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.