Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Acquired by Amica Mutual Insurance Co.

Key Points

• Amica Mutual Insurance Co. increased its Accenture stake by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 7,220 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 30,051 shares worth about $8.06 million.
• Accenture reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.93 versus estimates of $2.84 and revenue of $18.04 billion versus $17.80 billion expected. Revenue rose 7.8% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, or $6.52 annualized, for a yield of 3.5%, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $274.50 target price.

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,051 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,220 shares during the quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $8,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 46.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in Accenture by 49.8% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Accenture by 23.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Accenture by 4.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $187.32 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $185.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $155.82 and a 12 month high of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the company'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. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price target on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.50.

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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