Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Stake Boosted by NS Partners Ltd

Key Points

• NS Partners Ltd increased its stake in Intuit Inc. by 0.7%, owning 100,843 shares valued at approximately $61.9 million, making Intuit its 7th largest position.
• Recent insider trading activity saw CFO Sandeep Aujla sell 16,061 shares for over $11.6 million, and EVP Kerry J. Mclean sell 16,700 shares for about $12.2 million, significantly reducing their ownership.
• Intuit reported $11.65 EPS for its latest quarter, exceeding expectations, along with revenue of $7.75 billion, marking a 15.1% year-over-year increase.

NS Partners Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,843 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the quarter. Intuit accounts for approximately 2.7% of NS Partners Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. NS Partners Ltd's holdings in Intuit were worth $61,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of INTU. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 523.1% in the first quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Intuit in the first quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INTU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. CLSA started coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $900.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Intuit from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Intuit from $785.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $850.00 price objective (up previously from $760.00) on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $850.00 price objective (up from $770.00) on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $806.27.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of Intuit stock traded up $0.50 on Tuesday, hitting $706.59. 1,048,019 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,766,676. Intuit Inc. has a 12-month low of $532.65 and a 12-month high of $813.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $197.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $768.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $668.87.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.89 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.56 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 21.46% and a net margin of 19.07%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.88 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Intuit's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.77%.

Insider Activity at Intuit

In other news, EVP Marianna Tessel sold 34,329 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.84, for a total value of $26,118,876.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,017,164.28. The trade was a 45.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 16,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $729.16, for a total value of $12,176,972.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,844,325.16. The trade was a 41.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 279,800 shares of company stock worth $209,725,054 in the last 90 days. 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.