Dearborn Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,238 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 2,123 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in Intuit were worth $34,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of INTU. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Intuit in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Intuit during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Intuit during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit during the second quarter worth $35,000. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Intuit Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of INTU stock traded down $15.14 on Friday, reaching $685.62. 945,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,331,685. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $631.62 and a 200-day moving average of $629.71. Intuit Inc. has a one year low of $552.68 and a one year high of $714.78. The company has a market cap of $192.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.67, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.25.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 18.64%. Intuit's revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Intuit Inc. will post 14.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Intuit's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Intuit's payout ratio is presently 39.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 4,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,676,430.81. This represents a 14.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 2,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.76, for a total transaction of $1,849,183.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,575.20. This trade represents a 99.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock worth $35,220,046 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Intuit from $585.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Intuit from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $757.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intuit currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $739.24.

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.