Van ECK Associates Corp Has $17.28 Million Stock Holdings in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,644 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 2,345 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Intuit were worth $17,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Intuit by 42,268.5% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 610,954 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $312,161,000 after buying an additional 609,512 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Intuit by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,350,929 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $690,244,000 after acquiring an additional 514,259 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Intuit by 60,534.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 472,952 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $295,609,000 after acquiring an additional 472,172 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Intuit by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,636,635 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,879,982,000 after acquiring an additional 266,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Intuit by 56.2% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 617,821 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $315,669,000 after purchasing an additional 222,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Intuit from $600.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Intuit from $560.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Intuit from $735.00 to $745.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.23.

Insider Transactions at Intuit

In related 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Alex G. Balazs sold 280 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.38, for a total value of $178,186.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Lauren D. Hotz sold 745 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $655.13, for a total value of $488,071.85. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,083,313.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $3,117,156 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Stock Performance

NASDAQ INTU opened at $615.20 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $639.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $605.00. The firm has a market cap of $172.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.78, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Intuit Inc. has a 1 year low of $400.22 and a 1 year high of $671.01.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The software maker reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.33. Intuit had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Intuit Inc. will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Intuit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.