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

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

INTU has been the topic of a number of other reports. 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Intuit from $768.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intuit has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $737.44.

Intuit Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ INTU opened at $656.45 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Intuit has a 1-year low of $557.29 and a 1-year high of $714.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $639.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $631.28. The company has a market capitalization of $183.75 billion, a PE ratio of 65.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.24.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.14. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm 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 posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Intuit will post 14.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $15,856,983.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,664.22. This trade represents a 97.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.31, for a total transaction of $466,015.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,676,430.81. This trade represents a 14.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 150,542 shares of company stock valued at $97,235,054 in the last 90 days. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Intuit by 68,404.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,328 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $300,768,000 after buying an additional 483,621 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Intuit by 99.6% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 625,583 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $388,487,000 after acquiring an additional 312,212 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the second quarter worth about $184,982,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,616,811 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,062,578,000 after purchasing an additional 238,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Intuit by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,317,086 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $7,648,910,000 after purchasing an additional 221,885 shares during the period. 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.