Echo45 Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Echo45 Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 416 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 21 shares during the period. Echo45 Advisors LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in INTU. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Steward Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intuit by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intuit by 144.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In other Intuit news, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 3,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $663.84, for a total transaction of $2,450,897.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,948 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,233,800.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Intuit news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.38, for a total transaction of $178,186.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kerry J. Mclean sold 3,692 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $663.84, for a total transaction of $2,450,897.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,233,800.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $3,117,156. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $560.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Intuit from $678.00 to $712.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Intuit from $735.00 to $745.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Intuit from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intuit presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.00.

Intuit Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Intuit stock traded down $4.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $608.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 790,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,243,946. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $644.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $598.39. The company has a market capitalization of $170.35 billion, a PE ratio of 62.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.21. Intuit Inc. has a 52 week low of $400.22 and a 52 week high of $671.01.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The software maker reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.39 billion. Intuit had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Intuit’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.73%.

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.