Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 13,746 Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,681 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,746 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Intuit were worth $63,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in INTU. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuit by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 43 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuit during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 83.66% of the company’s stock.

Intuit Price Performance

INTU stock opened at $662.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $603.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $617.99. Intuit Inc. has a 52-week low of $532.65 and a 52-week high of $714.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.30, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Intuit Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Intuit’s payout ratio is 38.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Eve B. Burton sold 1,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $1,021,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8 shares in the company, valued at $4,800. The trade was a 99.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Laura A. Fennell sold 8,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.46, for a total transaction of $4,999,510.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,401,849.72. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,696 shares of company stock worth $14,347,731. Insiders own 2.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on INTU. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Intuit from $760.00 to $726.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Intuit from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $660.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Intuit in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. HSBC upgraded shares of Intuit from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $699.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Intuit from $750.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intuit currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.53.

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.