Aljian Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,048 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Intuit accounts for about 0.9% of Aljian Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Aljian Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $3,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Intuit in the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Intuit during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. 83.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on INTU shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Intuit from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Intuit from $770.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Intuit from $740.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered Intuit from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $685.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Intuit from $690.00 to $795.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuit has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $739.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intuit news, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 30,159 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 52,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,427,129.68. This trade represents a 36.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $617.28, for a total value of $2,469,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 452 shares in the company, valued at $279,010.56. The trade was a 89.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock valued at $35,220,046 over the last quarter. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of INTU stock opened at $687.87 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $633.08 and its 200 day moving average is $630.19. Intuit Inc. has a 1-year low of $552.68 and a 1-year high of $714.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $192.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.82, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.25.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.14. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 18.19%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 14.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

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

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.