Eagle Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,649 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 799 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Intuit were worth $3,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Intuit in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Intuit in the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the second quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuit in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Intuit from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $737.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In other news, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 30,159 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.36, for a total value of $19,372,935.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,038 shares in the company, valued at $33,427,129.68. This represents a 36.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.31, for a total transaction of $466,015.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,451 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,430.81. The trade was a 14.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,265 shares of company stock valued at $35,200,125 over the last quarter. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Intuit Stock Down 0.9 %

Intuit stock opened at $634.62 on Tuesday. Intuit Inc. has a 12 month low of $557.29 and a 12 month high of $714.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.77 billion, a PE ratio of 61.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $634.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $631.24.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.14. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Intuit Inc. will post 14.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.39%.

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.