Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Purchases 2,858 Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,409 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,858 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $4,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of INTU. Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in Intuit by 384.1% in the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 12,001 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $7,543,000 after buying an additional 9,522 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,021 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,708,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its stake in Intuit by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 2,374 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Intuit by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,452 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $7,826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of Intuit stock opened at $586.84 on Tuesday. Intuit Inc. has a 1-year low of $557.29 and a 1-year high of $714.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $626.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $631.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.24.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.14. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Intuit’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total transaction of $15,856,983.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,664.22. This represents a 97.99 % 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, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.50, for a total value of $68,506.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,804. This represents a 5.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187 in the last 90 days. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on INTU. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Intuit in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Intuit from $800.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $726.53.

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.