Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.51 EPS

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The software maker reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.51), Zacks reports. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%.

Intuit Price Performance

INTU traded down $11.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $555.63. 2,992,738 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,808,474. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $155.53 billion, a PE ratio of 53.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $610.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $628.07. Intuit has a 1 year low of $553.24 and a 1 year high of $714.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuit news, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 4,788 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.62, for a total value of $2,938,012.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,414,736.20. The trade was a 13.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total value of $15,856,983.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,664.22. This represents a 97.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,014 shares of company stock worth $140,855,687 in the last 90 days. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on INTU. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Intuit from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $726.71.

Intuit Company Profile

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.