Avestar Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,163 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $2,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Intuit during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Intuit during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Intuit in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Intuit during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 83.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Intuit Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:INTU opened at $576.54 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $622.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $630.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Intuit Inc. has a one year low of $557.29 and a one year high of $714.78. The firm has a market cap of $161.39 billion, a PE ratio of 55.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Intuit’s payout ratio is 40.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on INTU. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Intuit from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $765.00 price objective on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Intuit from $712.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $726.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In other news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 23,810 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.98, for a total value of $15,856,983.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,664.22. This trade represents a 97.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 73,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.94, for a total value of $48,976,155.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,301,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,189,977,112.84. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187. Company insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

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.