Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) by 53.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,999 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Intuit were worth $2,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Intuit by 68,404.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,328 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $300,768,000 after purchasing an additional 483,621 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in Intuit by 99.6% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 625,583 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $388,487,000 after buying an additional 312,212 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Intuit by 83.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 590,085 shares of the software maker's stock worth $371,984,000 after acquiring an additional 268,060 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Intuit by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,616,811 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,062,578,000 after acquiring an additional 238,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Intuit by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,317,086 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $7,648,910,000 after acquiring an additional 221,885 shares during the last quarter. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INTU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Intuit in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Intuit from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $726.53.

Intuit Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ INTU traded down $3.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $604.13. The company had a trading volume of 2,830,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,248,995. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $646.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $636.77. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $557.29 and a 1-year high of $714.78. The company has a market capitalization of $169.11 billion, a PE ratio of 58.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.14. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Intuit's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuit news, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $619.28, for a total value of $667,583.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,337.92. The trade was a 36.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total value of $15,856,983.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 489 shares of the company's stock, valued at $325,664.22. This represents a 97.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187. Insiders own 2.68% of the company's stock.

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.