Gradient Investments LLC Buys 5,705 Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) by 19.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,886 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 5,705 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Intuit were worth $21,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of INTU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 353,185 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Intuit by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,111,097 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,833,720,000 after purchasing an additional 132,384 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 worth $3,329,115,000 after acquiring an additional 620,559 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Intuit in the 4th quarter worth about $2,290,419,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Intuit by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,371,013 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,118,682,000 after acquiring an additional 498,030 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on INTU. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $850.00 price objective (up from $760.00) on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $825.00 target price (up previously from $775.00) on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group set a $750.00 target price on shares of Intuit and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $850.00 target price on shares of Intuit and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $750.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.33.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In related news, Director Eve B. Burton sold 1,702 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director now directly owns 8 shares in the company, valued at $4,800. This trade represents a 99.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 72,442 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $741.29, for a total value of $53,700,530.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,063,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,494,808,208.55. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 189,804 shares of company stock worth $138,081,963. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intuit Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:INTU traded up $1.08 on Thursday, hitting $767.89. 591,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,616,709. The stock has a market cap of $214.20 billion, a PE ratio of 74.55, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $640.03 and a 200-day moving average of $624.89. Intuit Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $532.65 and a fifty-two week high of $773.47.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.89 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.56 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The company's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Intuit's payout ratio is 33.77%.

Intuit Company 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.