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

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Intuit in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Intuit has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $737.44.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:INTU opened at $654.64 on Wednesday. Intuit has a twelve month low of $557.29 and a twelve month high of $714.78. The company’s 50 day moving average is $634.29 and its 200 day moving average is $631.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $183.25 billion, a PE ratio of 63.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.24.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.14. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Intuit’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Intuit will post 14.07 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Intuit’s payout ratio is currently 40.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In other news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 2,461 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,453,105 shares in the company, valued at $4,111,853,974.95. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their position. 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 Intuit stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,676,430.81. This represents a 14.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,324 shares of company stock worth $75,803,690. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of INTU. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. 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.