Waverton Investment Management Ltd Increases Position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 292,981 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 29,568 shares during the period. Intuit accounts for about 2.8% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd owned approximately 0.10% of Intuit worth $179,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of INTU. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Intuit by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 171,605 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $107,854,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648 shares during the last quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intuit in the fourth quarter worth $109,988,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth $237,244,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter valued at $2,958,000. Finally, Baer Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at $3,261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company's stock.

Intuit Stock Performance

NASDAQ:INTU opened at $772.86 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $696.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $637.71. Intuit Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $532.65 and a fifty-two week high of $774.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.73, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Intuit had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 21.46%. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.88 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given 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 yield of 0.54%. Intuit's payout ratio is 33.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on INTU. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $850.00 price target (up previously from $760.00) on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $850.00 price target (up from $770.00) on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Intuit from $730.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $785.00 target price (up from $720.00) on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intuit currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $793.05.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In related news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 72,442 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 16,061 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.13, for a total transaction of $11,662,373.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 197 shares in the company, valued at $143,047.61. This represents a 98.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 271,158 shares of company stock valued at $202,989,194 in the last ninety 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.

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