Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,501 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $5,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Intuit by 83.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 590,085 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $371,984,000 after purchasing an additional 268,060 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Intuit in the fourth quarter worth approximately $621,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its position in Intuit by 5.4% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 35,902 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $22,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares during the period. Retireful LLC acquired a new stake in Intuit in the third quarter worth approximately $740,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Intuit in the third quarter worth approximately $56,144,000. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on INTU shares. StockNews.com upgraded Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Intuit from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $726.53.

Intuit Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:INTU opened at $578.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.03 billion, a PE ratio of 56.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.24. Intuit Inc. has a 1 year low of $557.29 and a 1 year high of $714.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $626.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $631.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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, 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In other Intuit news, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $619.28, for a total transaction of $667,583.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,337.92. This represents a 36.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.82, for a total transaction of $48,136,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,378,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,093,595,351.10. This represents a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 293,014 shares of company stock worth $188,992,187 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

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.