Scott D. Cook Sells 73,655 Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Stock

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) insider Scott D. Cook sold 73,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.94, for a total transaction of $48,976,155.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,301,286 shares in the company, valued at $4,189,977,112.84. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Intuit Price Performance

INTU opened at $643.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $180.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.47, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $644.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $634.65. Intuit Inc. has a twelve month low of $557.29 and a twelve month high of $714.78.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.14. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Intuit’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Intuit Inc. will post 14.07 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuit by 33.2% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Intuit by 55.1% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Intuit during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. American Trust bought a new stake in Intuit during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,126,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Intuit by 3.2% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 7,495 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,654,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on INTU. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Intuit from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $737.44.

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.