Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 35,589 Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 759,775 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 35,589 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.27% of Intuit worth $477,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Intuit by 83.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 590,085 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $371,984,000 after buying an additional 268,060 shares in the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Intuit in the 4th quarter worth about $621,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its position in Intuit by 5.4% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 35,902 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $22,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares during the last quarter. Retireful LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuit during the third quarter valued at about $740,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Intuit during the third quarter worth about $56,144,000. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intuit Price Performance

INTU stock opened at $590.20 on Friday. Intuit Inc. has a 1 year low of $557.29 and a 1 year high of $714.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.21 billion, a PE ratio of 57.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $628.37 and its 200-day moving average is $632.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The software maker reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Intuit had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 17.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Intuit Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Intuit’s payout ratio is 40.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuit

In related news, insider Scott D. Cook sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.82, for a total value of $48,136,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,378,105 shares in the company, valued at $4,093,595,351.10. This represents a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sasan K. Goodarzi sold 26,562 shares of Intuit stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $625.89, for a total value of $16,624,890.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 37,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,701,828.41. This trade represents a 41.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 293,014 shares of company stock valued at $188,992,187. Corporate insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on INTU shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Intuit in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $765.00 price target on shares of Intuit in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Intuit from $790.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank started coverage on Intuit in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $700.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $530.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intuit has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $726.53.

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.