Financial Advocates Investment Management Increases Stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,327 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Intuit were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Intuit during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Intuit during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Intuit in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the third quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Stock Performance

NASDAQ:INTU opened at $578.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $627.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $632.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.03 billion, a PE ratio of 56.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.25. Intuit Inc. has a 52-week low of $557.29 and a 52-week high of $714.78.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on INTU. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $765.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Intuit in a report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $530.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuit currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $726.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuit news, 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 transaction of $15,856,983.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,664.22. This trade represents a 97.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $619.28, for a total transaction of $667,583.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,337.92. This trade represents a 36.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 293,014 shares of company stock worth $188,992,187. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

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.