Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on INTU. 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 lowered shares of Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $530.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $720.50.

Intuit Price Performance

Intuit stock opened at $601.09 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $605.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $626.69. Intuit has a 12 month low of $553.24 and a 12 month high of $714.78. The company has a market cap of $168.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.36, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.81%.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In related news, CEO Sasan K. Goodarzi sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $630.10, for a total transaction of $47,257,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,776 shares in the company, valued at $22,542,457.60. This represents a 67.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 73,655 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.94, for a total value of $48,976,155.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,301,286 shares in the company, valued at $4,189,977,112.84. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 224,460 shares of company stock worth $144,750,747. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intuit by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intuit by 0.8% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 31,405 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $19,503,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Intuit by 9.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 59,922 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $36,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,987 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Intuit by 0.8% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 406,437 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $252,397,000 after buying an additional 3,182 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens National Bank Trust Department increased its stake in shares of Intuit by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 2,557 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 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.