Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Short Interest Update

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,470,000 shares, a decline of 14.7% from the January 15th total of 4,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Intuit Trading Up 0.6 %

INTU traded up $3.48 on Monday, reaching $587.38. 1,348,762 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,801,658. The company has a market cap of $164.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 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. Intuit has a one year low of $557.29 and a one year high of $714.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $620.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $629.84.

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

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Intuit’s payout ratio is 40.39%.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In other news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.82, for a total value of $48,136,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,378,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,093,595,351.10. The trade was a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total value of $15,856,983.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,664.22. This represents a 97.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Intuit during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intuit by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 43 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Intuit during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Intuit in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on INTU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Intuit from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $530.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intuit has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $726.53.

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.