Principal Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,235 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Intuit were worth $4,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Intuit in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Intuit during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Intuit during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,378,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,093,595,351.10. This represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total transaction of $15,856,983.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,664.22. This represents a 97.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on INTU shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $765.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Intuit from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $726.53.

Intuit Stock Performance

INTU stock opened at $587.38 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $620.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $629.97. Intuit Inc. has a 12-month low of $557.29 and a 12-month high of $714.78. The firm has a market cap of $164.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.24. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for 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 firm’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

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

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.