Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Short Interest Update

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, a growth of 12.0% from the October 15th total of 3,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.19, for a total value of $1,568,124.59. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,453,105 shares in the company, valued at $4,111,853,974.95. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $617.28, for a total transaction of $2,469,120.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $279,010.56. The trade was a 89.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock worth $35,220,046 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Intuit in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Intuit in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Intuit during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Intuit from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Monday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $757.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $737.06.

Intuit Stock Performance

Shares of INTU stock traded down $9.06 on Monday, hitting $678.81. 1,580,348 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,336,806. The company has a market capitalization of $190.26 billion, a PE ratio of 64.96, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $633.08 and its 200 day moving average is $630.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Intuit has a 1-year low of $557.29 and a 1-year high of $714.78.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 18.19%. Intuit’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Intuit will post 14.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is 39.81%.

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.