Short Interest in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Drops By 13.3%

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) saw a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,990,000 shares, a decrease of 13.3% from the September 15th total of 3,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Insider Activity

In other Intuit news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 862 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.03, for a total transaction of $535,327.86. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,384,755.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Intuit news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.03, for a total value of $535,327.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,840 shares in the company, valued at $2,384,755.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.19, for a total transaction of $1,568,124.59. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,453,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,111,853,974.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock worth $35,220,046. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Intuit by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,057,696 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $16,937,502,000 after purchasing an additional 283,291 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Intuit by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,340,555 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,538,236,000 after acquiring an additional 23,995 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Intuit by 17.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,616,811 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,062,578,000 after acquiring an additional 238,486 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 4.2% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,407,862 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $925,262,000 after acquiring an additional 56,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Intuit by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,188,779 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $772,706,000 after purchasing an additional 12,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Stock Performance

Intuit stock traded down $8.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $609.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,132,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,189. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $631.08 and a 200 day moving average of $627.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $170.35 billion, a PE ratio of 57.00, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.24. Intuit has a one year low of $473.56 and a one year high of $676.62.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.14. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 18.19%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Intuit will post 14.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is 38.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INTU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Intuit from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Intuit from $690.00 to $795.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $760.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $735.71.

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.