Freestone Grove Partners LP Acquires New Stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 31,772 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $19,969,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Intuit by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,035,316 shares of the software maker's stock worth $16,991,696,000 after buying an additional 353,185 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Intuit by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,111,097 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,833,720,000 after purchasing an additional 132,384 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Intuit by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,296,921 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,329,115,000 after purchasing an additional 620,559 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,290,419,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Intuit by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,371,013 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,118,682,000 after buying an additional 498,030 shares during the period. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 8,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.46, for a total value of $4,999,510.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,882 shares in the company, valued at $13,401,849.72. This represents a 27.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Eve B. Burton sold 1,702 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $1,021,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,800. This represents a 99.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,696 shares of company stock worth $14,347,731 over the last quarter. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INTU has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas cut Intuit from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $530.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Intuit from $760.00 to $726.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $750.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank raised shares of Intuit from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $600.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Intuit from $722.00 to $642.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intuit presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $717.53.

Intuit Price Performance

INTU traded down $5.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $626.55. 877,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,580,995. The company has a market capitalization of $175.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.83, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $599.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $616.59. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $532.65 and a 52-week high of $714.78.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Intuit's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.81%.

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.