Aries Wealth Management Takes Position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Aries Wealth Management purchased a new position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 388 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Intuit by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,035,316 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $16,991,696,000 after buying an additional 353,185 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Intuit by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,111,097 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,833,720,000 after acquiring an additional 132,384 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Intuit by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,296,921 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,329,115,000 after acquiring an additional 620,559 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $2,290,419,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Intuit by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,371,013 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,118,682,000 after purchasing an additional 498,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Intuit stock opened at $753.98 on Monday. Intuit Inc. has a twelve month low of $532.65 and a twelve month high of $773.45. 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’s 50 day moving average is $664.85 and its 200 day moving average is $630.21. The company has a market cap of $210.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.28.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.89 by $0.76. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Intuit’s payout ratio is 33.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INTU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Intuit from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $600.00 to $700.00 in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $789.00 price objective (up previously from $726.00) on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Intuit from $750.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $742.00 target price (up from $642.00) on shares of Intuit in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Intuit from $730.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $787.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In other Intuit news, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 16,061 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.13, for a total value of $11,662,373.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,047.61. This trade represents a 98.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott D. Cook sold 72,442 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $741.29, for a total transaction of $53,700,530.18. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,063,495 shares in the company, valued at $4,494,808,208.55. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 288,408 shares of company stock worth $213,441,865 in the last three months. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intuit Profile

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.