Short Interest in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Decreases By 10.1%

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,390,000 shares, a decline of 10.1% from the March 15th total of 3,770,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In other news, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $655.13, for a total value of $488,071.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,180 shares in the company, valued at $2,083,313.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $655.13, for a total transaction of $488,071.85. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,180 shares in the company, valued at $2,083,313.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 3,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $663.84, for a total transaction of $2,450,897.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,233,800.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $3,117,156. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intuit

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of INTU. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Intuit during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Intuit by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its stake in Intuit by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 8,800 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Intuit by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 18,397 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $9,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Finally, Hixon Zuercher LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuit during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,292,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on INTU. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Intuit from $735.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Intuit from $678.00 to $712.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Intuit from $670.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Intuit from $615.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Intuit from $560.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intuit presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.00.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of INTU opened at $611.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $645.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $598.28. Intuit has a 1-year low of $400.22 and a 1-year high of $671.01. The company has a market cap of $171.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.40, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.21.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The software maker reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.33. Intuit had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Intuit will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Intuit’s payout ratio is presently 36.73%.

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.