Peregrine Investment Management Inc. Makes New $5.68 Million Investment in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Peregrine Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 9,040 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,682,000. Intuit comprises approximately 3.3% of Peregrine Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Intuit by 68,404.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 484,328 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $300,768,000 after purchasing an additional 483,621 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Intuit by 99.6% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 625,583 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $388,487,000 after buying an additional 312,212 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Intuit by 83.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 590,085 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $371,984,000 after buying an additional 268,060 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Intuit by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,317,086 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $7,648,910,000 after acquiring an additional 221,885 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Intuit during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $104,278,000. 83.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on INTU shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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 company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $726.53.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INTU opened at $587.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $620.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $630.01. Intuit Inc. has a twelve month low of $557.29 and a twelve month high of $714.78. The firm has a market capitalization 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 quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Intuit’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 4,788 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.62, for a total transaction of $2,938,012.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,414,736.20. The trade was a 13.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 293,014 shares of company stock worth $188,992,187. Corporate 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.