American Trust Takes Position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

American Trust bought a new stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,814 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,126,000.

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

Intuit Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INTU traded down $15.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $656.45. 1,634,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,367,859. The company has a market cap of $183.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.27, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $639.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $631.28. Intuit Inc. has a 52 week low of $557.29 and a 52 week high of $714.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Intuit Inc. will post 14.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Intuit's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INTU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $760.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intuit from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $757.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $737.44.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In other news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.82, for a total transaction of $48,136,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,378,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,093,595,351.10. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 7,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $657.64, for a total transaction of $5,063,828.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,304,518.24. The trade was a 18.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 126,732 shares of company stock valued at $81,378,070. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company's stock.

Intuit 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.