Accenture PLC $ACN Position Boosted by Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Bristol Gate Capital Partners increased its Accenture stake by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 302,228 shares worth about $81.1 million.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on ACN: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, with 17 Buy ratings and 10 Hold ratings, and a consensus target price of $274.50.
• Accenture reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.93 and revenue of $18.04 billion, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share for a 3.6% yield.

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 302,228 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 62,619 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up about 4.7% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $81,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its position in Accenture by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in Accenture by 0.9% in the third quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Accenture by 1.2% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peak Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ACN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of ACN opened at $179.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $321.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $187.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.79.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

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

Accenture Company 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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