Verity & Verity LLC Takes Position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 654 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $402,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Intuit by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 43 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Intuit by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the software maker's stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Intuit by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 118 shares of the software maker's stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in Intuit by 18.4% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 116 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chris Bulman Inc grew its holdings in Intuit by 1.2% in the first quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 1,523 shares of the software maker's stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company's stock.

Intuit Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:INTU traded down $12.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $753.98. 1,148,047 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,611,840. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $664.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $630.25. Intuit Inc. has a 52-week low of $532.65 and a 52-week high of $773.45. The company has a market cap of $210.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Intuit had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Intuit's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 62,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $765.99, for a total value of $48,116,427.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,000,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,596,460,107.21. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark P. Notarainni sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $725.00, for a total transaction of $340,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,775. This trade represents a 96.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 288,408 shares of company stock worth $213,441,865 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. HSBC raised shares of Intuit from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $699.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $789.00 target price (up previously from $726.00) on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $815.00 price target (up previously from $775.00) on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intuit has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $787.95.

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.