Verus Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 522 Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Verus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 522 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in INTU. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Intuit by 173.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,687,583 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,304,850,000 after buying an additional 2,336,654 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,548,119 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,217,681,000 after purchasing an additional 80,517 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at $2,101,848,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Intuit by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,114,975 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,946,954,000 after purchasing an additional 270,432 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Intuit by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,571,602 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $982,299,000 after purchasing an additional 44,332 shares during the last quarter. 83.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Intuit from $680.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Intuit from $775.00 to $757.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Intuit in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $760.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Intuit from $720.00 to $690.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $687.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Mark P. Notarainni sold 465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.58, for a total transaction of $281,129.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $525,380.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $597.85, for a total value of $44,838,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,791,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,060,279,741.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark P. Notarainni sold 465 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.58, for a total transaction of $281,129.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $525,380.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,963 shares of company stock worth $114,442,445. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Stock Performance

INTU stock traded up $2.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $660.91. 151,646 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,329,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. Intuit Inc. has a 52 week low of $473.56 and a 52 week high of $676.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.76 billion, a PE ratio of 60.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $624.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $630.76.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The software maker reported $9.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.12 by $1.76. The company had revenue of $6.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.65 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 19.43% and a return on equity of 18.61%. Intuit’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Intuit Inc. will post 11.72 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Intuit’s payout ratio is currently 33.21%.

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.