Intuit Co-Founder Liquidates $100 Million Stake as Stock Price Wavers

2026-01-02 companies

Mountain View, Friday, 2 January 2026.
Scott Cook sold over $100 million in Intuit shares across two days in late December 2025. While the sale followed a pre-arranged plan, this significant liquidation coincides with the stock testing critical technical support levels, drawing close investor scrutiny regarding near-term valuation.

Insider Liquidation Details

According to regulatory filings submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Scott Cook, who serves as a director and co-founder of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), executed a massive liquidation of equity in the final days of 2025. On December 29, Cook sold 75,000 shares at an average price of $673.43, netting approximately $50.5 million [6]. This was immediately followed on December 30 by a second wave of sales, where an additional block of shares—cited as 73,000 in summary reports but comprised of multiple smaller trades totaling 75,000 shares based on specific transaction data—was sold at prices ranging from $669.08 to $674.00 [1][5]. The combined value of these transactions over the two-day period amounts to approximately 100.874 million, marking a substantial cash-out event [1][6]. These sales were conducted through the Scott D. Cook and Helen Signe Ostby Family Trust under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which had been adopted months prior on September 3, 2025, to negate accusations of opportunistic insider trading based on non-public information [2][5].

Remaining Stake and Executive Position

Despite the magnitude of this sell-off, Cook retains a controlling interest in the financial software giant. Following the December 30 transactions, the Cook Family Trust continues to hold approximately 5.67 million shares of Intuit common stock [1][5]. With the share price hovering near $670, this remaining stake is valued at roughly $3.8 billion, indicating that while the recent sale is significant in absolute terms, it represents a decrease of only about 1.29% in his direct ownership position [3][6]. Investors often scrutinize such moves for signs of waning confidence, yet the pre-arranged nature of the sale suggests it may be more aligned with personal estate planning than a bearish outlook on the company’s trajectory [3].

Market Reaction and Technical Pressures

The timing of the liquidation has coincided with a period of technical weakness for Intuit’s stock. On Wednesday, December 31, 2025—the last trading day of the year—Intuit shares slipped 1.1% to close at $662.42, underperforming the broader market as the S&P 500 lost 0.74% [2]. The stock is currently navigating a precarious technical zone; it entered 2026 testing its 200-day moving average, which sits between $680 and $682 [2][3]. Furthermore, the stock remains approximately 18.6% below its 52-week high established in late July 2025 [2]. With markets reopening today, January 2, 2026, investors are watching closely to see if the stock can reclaim the $680 resistance level, a technical barrier that could determine the asset’s near-term momentum [2][3].

Strategic Outlook and Analyst Sentiment

Fundamentally, Intuit faces a mixed landscape as it prepares for the 2026 tax season. The company recently reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $3.9 billion, an 18% year-over-year increase that beat analyst expectations [1][3]. However, Wall Street remains divided on the stock’s valuation. Following the November earnings report, Wells Fargo lowered its price target from $880 to $840, citing a mixed outlook, while Stifel and Evercore ISI maintained bullish ratings with targets of $800 and $875, respectively [1][6]. Intuit is aggressively pursuing an “AI-first” strategy, integrating its Intuit Assist technology to automate financial tasks and defend its 75% market share in the QuickBooks segment [3]. Additionally, the company is expanding its fintech footprint through a multi-year partnership with Circle Internet Group to leverage stablecoin technology [1]. These strategic pivots are critical as the company faces a complex tax season, although the competitive threat from the IRS has diminished following the shuttering of the “Direct File” pilot program in November 2025 [3].

Sources

Insider Trading Intuit