Kovack Advisors Inc. Makes New $299,000 Investment in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 478 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of INTU. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Intuit during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Overbrook Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Intuit by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 36,300 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $22,689,000 after purchasing an additional 9,857 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intuit by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 7,708 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,818,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust bought a new position in shares of Intuit in the fourth quarter worth about $238,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Intuit by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 193,655 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $121,040,000 after buying an additional 3,944 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Intuit from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Intuit from $735.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $600.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.23.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INTU opened at $638.39 on Tuesday. Intuit Inc. has a 52 week low of $400.22 and a 52 week high of $671.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $178.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $639.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $604.28.

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

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Intuit’s payout ratio is 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.