Congress Asset Management Co. Grows Stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,954 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Intuit comprises 0.9% of Congress Asset Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Intuit were worth $136,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intuit news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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. This represents a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 1,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $1,154,337.92. This represents a 36.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Stock Performance

Shares of INTU stock opened at $587.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $620.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $630.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Intuit Inc. has a one year low of $557.29 and a one year 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.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INTU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $760.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $530.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $726.53.

Intuit 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.