HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,319 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,144 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $39,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Intuit by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 1,639 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Intuit by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Intuit by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Intuit by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 627 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Intuit by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 393 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 73,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.94, for a total transaction of $48,976,155.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,301,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,189,977,112.84. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sasan K. Goodarzi sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $630.10, for a total transaction of $47,257,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,776 shares in the company, valued at $22,542,457.60. The trade was a 67.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,301 shares of company stock valued at $121,470,200. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of INTU opened at $581.32 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $598.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $623.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.44, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Intuit Inc. has a 1-year low of $553.24 and a 1-year high of $714.78.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Intuit’s payout ratio is 38.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INTU has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Intuit from $760.00 to $726.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Intuit from $750.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Intuit presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $721.61.

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.