Short Interest in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Rises By 14.7%

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,430,000 shares, an increase of 14.7% from the September 30th total of 2,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In other news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Intuit news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.31, for a total transaction of $466,015.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,676,430.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 30,159 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $642.36, for a total transaction of $19,372,935.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,038 shares in the company, valued at $33,427,129.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,297 shares of company stock valued at $35,220,046 over the last 90 days. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Intuit by 134.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,601 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,991,000 after buying an additional 2,641 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Intuit by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Intuit by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,607 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,895,000 after buying an additional 2,655 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Intuit by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,257 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $7,398,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Intuit in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,819,000. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on INTU shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Intuit from $690.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Intuit from $730.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $585.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $770.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Intuit from $745.00 to $740.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $735.71.

Intuit Price Performance

Intuit stock traded up $11.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $624.05. 656,996 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,314,466. The company has a market cap of $174.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. 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 has a twelve month low of $481.79 and a twelve month high of $676.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $625.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $626.51.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 18.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Intuit will post 14.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is 38.38%.

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.