Optas LLC Lowers Stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Optas LLC trimmed its holdings in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,699 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,552 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at about $104,278,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Intuit by 145.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 813 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $68,429,000. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Intuit by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,992 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. 83.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on INTU shares. Scotiabank raised Intuit from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $600.00 to $700.00 in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $820.00 target price (up previously from $714.00) on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, May 23rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $699.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $789.00 price objective (up previously from $726.00) on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $787.95.

Intuit Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INTU opened at $753.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $210.32 billion, a PE ratio of 73.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $664.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $630.25. Intuit Inc. has a 12 month low of $532.65 and a 12 month high of $773.45.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.89 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.56 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. Intuit’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Intuit news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 1,459 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $770.80, for a total value of $1,124,597.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark P. Notarainni sold 469 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $725.00, for a total value of $340,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,775. The trade was a 96.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 288,408 shares of company stock valued at $213,441,865 in 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.