Ameriprise Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,609,294 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 36,152 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.57% of Intuit worth $1,011,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on INTU. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Intuit from $722.00 to $642.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Intuit from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank upgraded Intuit from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $600.00 to $700.00 in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BNP Paribas downgraded Intuit from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $530.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Intuit from $760.00 to $726.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $717.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 8,163 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.46, for a total transaction of $4,999,510.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,882 shares in the company, valued at $13,401,849.72. The trade was a 27.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eve B. Burton sold 1,702 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $1,021,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,800. The trade was a 99.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,696 shares of company stock valued at $14,347,731. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company's stock.

Intuit Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:INTU opened at $631.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $616.41. Intuit Inc. has a 12 month low of $532.65 and a 12 month high of $714.78. The company has a market capitalization of $176.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.33, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.25.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Intuit's payout ratio is presently 38.81%.

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.

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