Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) Stock Price Down 1.6% on Insider Selling

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)’s stock price was down 1.6% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $642.78 and last traded at $643.88. Approximately 598,607 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 1,316,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $654.24.

Specifically, Director Eve B. Burton sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.87, for a total transaction of $1,941,811.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.19, for a total value of $1,568,124.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,453,105 shares in the company, valued at $4,111,853,974.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

INTU has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Intuit from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $727.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $768.00 target price (up from $760.00) on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Intuit from $690.00 to $795.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Intuit from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Intuit currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $720.37.

Intuit Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $636.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $631.30. The company has a market capitalization of $180.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.50, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.24.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 18.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.06 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INTU. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 134.7% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,601 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,991,000 after buying an additional 2,641 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Intuit by 119.0% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,338,139 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $836,377,000 after acquiring an additional 727,185 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Intuit by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 179,801 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $112,381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Intuit by 173.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,687,583 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,304,850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,336,654 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Intuit by 33.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,607 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,655 shares during the last quarter. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by 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.