Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group boosted its Accenture stake by 139.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 435,499 shares valued at about $116.8 million. Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, and institutions now own about 75.14% of the company.
• Accenture CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transaction, reducing his direct holdings by 27.57%. Insider ownership remains very small at 0.02%.
• Accenture reported strong quarterly results earlier this year, beating EPS and revenue estimates and raising its dividend to an annualized $6.52 per share for a 3.9% yield. However, analysts have recently trimmed price targets, and the stock is under pressure ahead of its June 18 fiscal third-quarter earnings report.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 139.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 435,499 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 253,652 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Accenture worth $116,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Accenture by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 495,336 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $132,899,000 after acquiring an additional 110,420 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $66,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Accenture by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 102,597 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $27,527,000 after acquiring an additional 12,523 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Accenture by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 542,448 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $145,539,000 after acquiring an additional 24,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS increased its position in shares of Accenture by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 211,355 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $56,553,000 after acquiring an additional 10,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Accenture Price Performance

ACN opened at $165.84 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.51. The firm has a market cap of $110.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $315.95. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 53.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $177.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Accenture in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 1st. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $245.85.

Key Accenture News

Here are the key news stories impacting Accenture this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Susquehanna cut its price target on Accenture to $186 from $222 and kept a neutral rating, adding to the cautious tone around the stock ahead of earnings. Susquehanna adjusts price target on Accenture
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies also lowered its target on Accenture to $185 from $210 and maintained a hold rating, reinforcing concerns that near-term upside may be limited. Jefferies adjusts price target on Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Accenture’s fiscal third-quarter results on June 18, with expectations for revenue and EPS growth that could determine whether the recent weakness continues or reverses. Accenture set to report Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture is also in the spotlight after Unilever said it is scaling AI-enabled digital twins across its manufacturing network with Accenture, highlighting ongoing enterprise AI work, though the announcement is not a major immediate catalyst. Unilever scales digital twins across global manufacturing network with Accenture
• Neutral Sentiment: Accenture received an award recognizing its AI innovation across its workforce, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Accenture award underscores AI role

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.