Intuit Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:INTU)

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 14,227 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 192% compared to the average daily volume of 4,865 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on INTU. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank raised shares of Intuit from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $600.00 to $700.00 in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Intuit from $726.00 to $789.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Intuit from $770.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Intuit from $685.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intuit currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.33.

Intuit Stock Performance

Shares of Intuit stock opened at $720.13 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $616.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $621.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.92, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. Intuit has a 12 month low of $532.65 and a 12 month high of $734.18. 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 (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.89 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Intuit will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eve B. Burton sold 1,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $1,021,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800. This trade represents a 99.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marianna Tessel sold 7,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.13, for a total transaction of $4,431,960.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,119,224.70. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,696 shares of company stock valued at $14,347,731 over the last 90 days. 2.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new position in Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Intuit by 72.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 43 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 83.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.