StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the software maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on INTU. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Intuit from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Intuit from $490.00 to $465.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. Credit Suisse Group started coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Monday, November 21st. They set an outperform rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Intuit from $448.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Intuit from $575.00 to $525.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $483.53.

Intuit Price Performance

NASDAQ INTU traded down $4.46 on Thursday, hitting $413.69. 3,124,288 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,873,489. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $408.58 and a 200-day moving average of $404.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Intuit has a 52 week low of $339.36 and a 52 week high of $507.71. The stock has a market cap of $116.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.16.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The software maker reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 14.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Intuit will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.75%.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In other Intuit news, EVP James Alexander Chriss sold 597 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $238,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 344 shares in the company, valued at $137,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Intuit news, EVP James Alexander Chriss sold 597 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $238,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 344 shares in the company, valued at $137,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eve B. Burton sold 4,539 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.57, for a total transaction of $1,872,655.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,925 shares of company stock worth $3,258,123. Corporate insiders own 3.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Intuit by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,634,094 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $9,541,277,000 after buying an additional 281,362 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Intuit by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,749,565 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,841,392,000 after buying an additional 575,174 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Intuit by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,109,960 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,985,013,000 after buying an additional 86,957 shares during the last quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. grew its position in Intuit by 27,658.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. now owns 4,562,453 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $11,837,000 after purchasing an additional 4,546,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Intuit by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,518,173 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,362,659,000 after purchasing an additional 217,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.65% of the company’s stock.

About Intuit

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Intuit, Inc engages in the provision of business and financial management solutions. It operates through the following segments: Small Business and Self-Employed, Consumer, Credit Karma, and ProConnect. The Small Business and Self-Employed segment offers QuickBooks financial and business management online services and desktop software, payroll solutions, payment processing solutions, and financing for small businesses.