Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) Short Interest Up 12.0% in October

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, a growth of 12.0% from the October 15th total of 3,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Intuit Stock Performance

INTU stock traded down $9.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $678.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,580,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,336,806. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $633.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $630.19. Intuit has a fifty-two week low of $557.29 and a fifty-two week high of $714.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.26 billion, a PE ratio of 65.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.14. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 18.19%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Intuit will post 14.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This is a boost from Intuit’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $757.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $768.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Intuit from $770.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Intuit from $585.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $739.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eve B. Burton sold 2,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.87, for a total transaction of $1,941,811.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sandeep Aujla sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $617.28, for a total transaction of $2,469,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 452 shares in the company, valued at $279,010.56. This represents a 89.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,297 shares of company stock valued at $35,220,046. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuit

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in INTU. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Intuit by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 428 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Intuit by 20.0% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Intuit by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 168,722 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $104,776,000 after purchasing an additional 5,840 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Intuit by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 1,639 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Intuit by 16.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,584 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. 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.