Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,030,000 shares, an increase of 42.5% from the February 13th total of 3,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,810,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on INTU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $640.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Intuit from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Intuit from $795.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Intuit from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $730.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $721.61.

Intuit Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:INTU traded up $3.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $602.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,558,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,433,660. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $168.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $598.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $623.66. Intuit has a fifty-two week low of $553.24 and a fifty-two week high of $714.78.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Intuit’s payout ratio is presently 38.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 6,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $3,895,059.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,219,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,758,436,774. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 4,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.62, for a total value of $2,938,012.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,010 shares in the company, valued at $18,414,736.20. This trade represents a 13.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,301 shares of company stock worth $121,470,200 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuit

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Intuit in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intuit by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 43 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Intuit during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Intuit in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 83.66% 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.