National Pension Service Buys 74,403 Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

National Pension Service increased its stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 626,313 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,403 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Intuit were worth $388,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Intuit by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 30,395 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $19,757,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Intuit by 2.0% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 957 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp increased its position in Intuit by 3.1% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 4,541 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,951,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Intuit in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,903,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in Intuit by 276.5% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 64 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 83.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Intuit Price Performance

INTU stock opened at $621.74 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $622.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $626.64. Intuit Inc. has a 12 month low of $489.55 and a 12 month high of $676.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $174.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.25.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.14. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 18.19%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Intuit Inc. will post 14.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This is an increase from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on INTU shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Intuit from $745.00 to $740.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $757.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Intuit from $690.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intuit presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $735.71.

Insider Activity at Intuit

In related news, 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 value of $1,849,183.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,575.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Eve B. Burton sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.87, for a total value of $1,941,811.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 2,941 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.76, for a total transaction of $1,849,183.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,575.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,297 shares of company stock valued at $35,220,046. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.