7,400 Shares in Accenture PLC $ACN Purchased by Banco BTG Pactual S.A.

Key Points

• Banco BTG Pactual S.A. initiated a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter, buying 7,400 shares valued at about $1.985 million.
• Accenture’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $2.93 versus $2.84 expected and revenue of $18.04 billion, up 7.8% from a year earlier.
• The stock was down 1.6% in trading and has recently seen multiple analysts cut price targets, though the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with an average target of $259.89.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,400 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,985,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Accenture by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $39,592,000 after buying an additional 35,900 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Accenture by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $75,752,000 after buying an additional 61,314 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Accenture by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $99,794,000 after buying an additional 260,357 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Accenture by 197.2% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $37,960,000 after buying an additional 93,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Accenture by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $149,582,000 after buying an additional 149,357 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Trading Down 1.6%

Accenture stock opened at $167.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $182.33 and a 200 day moving average of $222.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $318.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer set a $201.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $247.00 to $201.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $259.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Accenture Profile

Accenture is a global professional services company that provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The firm works with organizations across industries to design and implement business transformation programs, deploy and manage enterprise technology, optimize operations, and develop customer and digital experiences. Its offerings encompass management and technology consulting, systems integration, application and infrastructure services, cloud migration and managed services, as well as security and analytics capabilities.

The company delivers industry- and function-specific solutions, combining consulting expertise with proprietary tools, platforms and partnerships with major technology vendors.

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