Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $726.53.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised Intuit from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Intuit

In related news, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $619.28, for a total value of $667,583.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,154,337.92. This trade represents a 36.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 1,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.42, for a total transaction of $814,346.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $403,414.48. This represents a 66.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 293,014 shares of company stock worth $188,992,187 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company's stock.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,020 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Intuit by 1.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,910 shares of the software maker's stock worth $10,501,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Tobam boosted its position in Intuit by 25.5% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 606 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 23.4% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 486 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JGP Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Intuit by 1.2% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,743 shares of the software maker's stock worth $14,123,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company's stock.

INTU stock opened at $578.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $627.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $632.08. The company has a market capitalization of $162.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.25. Intuit has a 52-week low of $557.29 and a 52-week high of $714.78.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.14 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. Intuit's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Intuit will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Intuit's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.39%.

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.

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