Saturna Capital Corp Lowers Stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Saturna Capital Corp reduced its stake in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 295,503 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 2,470 shares during the period. Intuit makes up 2.4% of Saturna Capital Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Saturna Capital Corp owned about 0.11% of Intuit worth $183,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,057,696 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $16,937,502,000 after acquiring an additional 283,291 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Intuit by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,340,555 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,538,236,000 after purchasing an additional 23,995 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Intuit by 17.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,616,811 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,062,578,000 after purchasing an additional 238,486 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 4.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,407,862 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $925,262,000 after buying an additional 56,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Intuit by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,188,779 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $772,706,000 after buying an additional 12,068 shares during the period. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of INTU stock opened at $698.01 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $628.37 and its 200 day moving average is $628.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $195.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.93, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.25. Intuit Inc. has a twelve month low of $541.40 and a twelve month high of $703.88.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.14. Intuit had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 18.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Intuit Inc. will post 14.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Intuit

In other Intuit news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 862 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.03, for a total value of $535,327.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 3,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,384,755.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 2,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $637.19, for a total transaction of $1,568,124.59. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,453,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,111,853,974.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.03, for a total transaction of $535,327.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,384,755.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,297 shares of company stock worth $35,220,046 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on INTU. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Intuit from $690.00 to $795.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Intuit from $585.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Intuit from $745.00 to $740.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Intuit from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $735.71.

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.