Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Grows Stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its holdings in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 549,641 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,794 shares during the quarter. Intuit accounts for approximately 4.9% of Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. owned approximately 0.20% of Intuit worth $341,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in INTU. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Intuit during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. 83.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on INTU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Intuit from $585.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Intuit from $740.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $757.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered Intuit from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $739.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 11,079 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.61, for a total transaction of $6,997,607.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,752,985.01. This trade represents a 30.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of Intuit 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,451 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,430.81. This represents a 14.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,297 shares of company stock valued at $35,220,046 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:INTU traded down $12.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $687.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,799,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,335,732. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Intuit Inc. has a 12 month low of $552.68 and a 12 month high of $714.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $633.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $630.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.80 billion, a PE ratio of 65.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.25.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.14. Intuit had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 18.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.81%.

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.