Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Shares Acquired by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,181 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $18,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of INTU. Benin Management CORP raised its stake in shares of Intuit by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 453 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $401,000. MFA Wealth Services purchased a new stake in Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $368,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Intuit by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,552 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apeiron RIA LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuit by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 854 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intuit news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total transaction of $15,856,983.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,664.22. This represents a 97.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.82, for a total value of $48,136,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,378,105 shares in the company, valued at $4,093,595,351.10. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 293,014 shares of company stock worth $188,992,187 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on INTU shares. StockNews.com raised Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $765.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Intuit currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $726.53.

Intuit Stock Performance

NASDAQ INTU opened at $597.95 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $638.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $635.52. 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 $167.38 billion, a PE ratio of 58.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.25.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.39%.

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.