Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) is an applications and software company located in Mountain View, CA. The company focuses on developing business and financial management solutions for small businesses. With the company’s headquarters in the US, Intuit Inc. also operates offices across the globe including; the UK, Canada, India, Singapore, Australia, among others.

The company’s business is about to ignite another stream of income following the current shift in the corporate sector. Startups and individuals operating in the gig economy are now finding it simpler to use Intuit-based accounting systems to file taxes amongst accomplishing other accountancy tasks. River Cohen, an Intuit systems financial consultant and a registered QuickBooks partner, points that most individuals are now keen to do their own books thanks to platforms like Intuit’s QuickBooks that have made things easier.

The freelance marketplace is growing and this is likely to expand Intuit’s addressable market in the near future as more individuals and startups continue to embrace the paradigm shift in the corporate world.

Stock Performance

The Applications software company is valued at $28.28 billion. Its stock is currently performing at about 8% below its 52-week high and 21% above its 52-week low with a 1-year price history range of $88.17 - $116.97. At the time of writing this article, the stock was trading at $109.62 per share which is a 0.51% gain from the previous price close. Intuit also saw a day’s price range of $109.14 - $109.99 on the day.

Intuit’s short interest shares decreased by 8% to stand at 2.54 million shares with the technology company seeing 2% of its float shares sold on short. Intuit daily volumes spiked over the last month with 1.33 million shares traded per day. Intuit Inc. boasts a P/E ratio of 34.98 and a dividend yield of 0.34 per share.

Recent analyst coverage on the stock

Intuit has been given a “Buy” recommendation by a majority of the 18 firms currently covering the company. Of the 18 analysts, 1 gave the stock a “sell” recommendation with 7 giving Intuit Inc. a “hold” rating whereas 10 gave the company a buy rating.

In a research report released on June 26^th, Brean Capital reaffirmed its position on Intuit Inc. by recommending a “buy” rating. Elsewhere, Barclays PLC downgraded Intuit shares from an “overweight” to an “equal weight” rating while also raising the stock’s price target from $110.00 to $116.00 in a report published on July 15^th. Morgan Stanley remained unmoved on its “equal weight” rating on Intuit stock and set a price target of $105.00. This was noted in a research report released on August 25^th. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse remained unchanged with its “neutral” rating on the stock but gave the company a $100.00 price rating. In a research note released on June 29^th, Research group Zacks upgraded Intuit’s shares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and also set a price target of $122.00.

Who else is buying Intuit?

All the signs are a go as a number of hedge funds and institutional investors have recently increased their stake of Intuit in their portfolios. Capital World Investors increased its position in Intuit Inc. by 6.3%. The company now possesses a portfolio with Intuit shares worth $2.8 billion after buying a staggering 1,498,606 shares during the last quarter. AJO LP also increased its ownership in Inuit by 556.3% in the second quarter of 2016.

Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. was not left out in the act as it also boosted its position in Intuit by an amazing 677.9% after buying an additional 541,504 shares during the second quarter to make it all 621,388 shares worth a combined total of $69 million. Emerald Acquisition Ltd and Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C also took on the opportunity during the second quarter and boosted their positions in Intuit.

Conclusion

Freelancers across the globe are smiling after Intuit added an invoicing functionality to QuickBooks in collaboration with Alphabet’s (Nasdaq:GOOG) (Nasdaq:GOOGL) G Suite Calendar. This means that QuickBooks online users will now be able to receive their monies worth at much improved time frames. This functionality enables these online users to get paid up to 15 days much faster.