Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $720.37.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on INTU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Intuit from $585.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $690.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $757.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Intuit Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ INTU opened at $633.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $637.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $631.89. The company has a market cap of $177.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.45, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Intuit has a 1 year low of $473.56 and a 1 year high of $676.62.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 18.19%. Intuit’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Intuit will post 14.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a boost from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.21%.

Insider Activity at Intuit

In other news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 1,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.27, for a total transaction of $690,997.47. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,170,682.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 11,079 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.61, for a total value of $6,997,607.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,752,985.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 1,061 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.27, for a total value of $690,997.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,170,682.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,999 shares of company stock worth $8,872,069 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intuit

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the second quarter worth $12,334,000. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Intuit during the second quarter worth approximately $1,067,000. Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Intuit by 23.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 31,553 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $20,114,000 after acquiring an additional 6,039 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intuit by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 964,328 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $633,766,000 after acquiring an additional 169,190 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.