Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,400,000 shares, a decline of 9.1% from the July 15th total of 3,740,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INTU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Intuit from $727.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Intuit from $720.00 to $690.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $770.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $757.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In related news, EVP Mark P. Notarainni sold 965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.00, for a total value of $628,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,020 shares in the company, valued at $664,020. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Intuit news, EVP Mark P. Notarainni sold 965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.00, for a total transaction of $628,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $664,020. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 1,061 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.27, for a total value of $690,997.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 3,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,170,682.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,963 shares of company stock worth $114,442,445 over the last ninety days. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of INTU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Intuit by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,057,696 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $16,937,502,000 after purchasing an additional 283,291 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Intuit by 173.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,687,583 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,304,850,000 after buying an additional 2,336,654 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,548,119 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,217,681,000 after acquiring an additional 80,517 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Intuit during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,101,848,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Intuit by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,114,975 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,946,954,000 after purchasing an additional 270,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:INTU traded up $1.39 on Friday, hitting $653.53. 765,779 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,317,588. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. Intuit has a 52 week low of $473.56 and a 52 week high of $676.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $631.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $633.69.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The software maker reported $9.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.12 by $1.76. Intuit had a net margin of 19.43% and a return on equity of 18.61%. The business had revenue of $6.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.80 earnings per share. Intuit’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Intuit will post 11.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.21%.

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.