Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Buys 22 Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 360 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 22 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Intuit were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Intuit in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Intuit during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Intuit during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Intuit in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on INTU. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Intuit from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Intuit from $745.00 to $740.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Intuit from $585.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuit presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $735.71.

Intuit Price Performance

INTU stock opened at $697.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.73, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $625.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $627.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Intuit Inc. has a 12-month low of $523.32 and a 12-month high of $698.96.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 18.19%. Intuit’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This is a boost from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 11,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.61, for a total transaction of $6,997,607.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,752,985.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.31, for a total value of $466,015.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,451 shares in the company, valued at $2,676,430.81. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 11,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.61, for a total transaction of $6,997,607.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,752,985.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock worth $35,220,046 over the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.