ABN Amro Investment Solutions Raises Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions boosted its Accenture stake by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 68,888 shares valued at about $18.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive overall: Accenture has 17 Buy ratings and 10 Hold ratings, with a consensus Moderate Buy and average target price of $274.50, even as some analysts lowered their price targets.
• Accenture reported solid quarterly results, beating estimates on both EPS ($2.93) and revenue ($18.04 billion), and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share for an annualized yield of 3.6%.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 27.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,888 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,823 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions' holdings in Accenture were worth $18,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Accenture in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its holdings in Accenture by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Berenberg Bank began coverage on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $179.12 on Thursday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $188.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.64. Accenture PLC has a 52-week low of $155.82 and a 52-week high of $322.86. The firm has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

About Accenture

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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