BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Stock

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $714.00 to $820.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the software maker's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.97% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Intuit from $775.00 to $815.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Intuit from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $600.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho raised their target price on Intuit from $750.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on Intuit from $760.00 to $726.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Intuit from $720.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intuit presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $758.95.

Intuit Stock Performance

INTU traded up $53.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $719.47. 2,708,998 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,621,491. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $614.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $620.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Intuit has a 1 year low of $532.65 and a 1 year high of $733.51.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.89 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.56 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The firm's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Intuit will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Intuit

In other Intuit news, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 8,163 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.46, for a total transaction of $4,999,510.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,882 shares in the company, valued at $13,401,849.72. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marianna Tessel sold 7,385 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.13, for a total transaction of $4,431,960.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,119,224.70. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,696 shares of company stock worth $14,347,731. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Intuit by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,330,309 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $16,780,536,000 after acquiring an additional 294,993 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,018,770 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $5,537,435,000 after purchasing an additional 649,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuit by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,111,097 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,833,720,000 after purchasing an additional 132,384 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Intuit by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,655,249 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,472,266,000 after purchasing an additional 358,328 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Intuit during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,290,419,000. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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