Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Focus Partners Wealth

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth more than doubled its Accenture stake in the fourth quarter, increasing holdings by 120.4% to 889,356 shares worth about $238.6 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on Accenture, though price targets have been trimmed; the stock currently has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $259.89.
• Accenture recently reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $2.93 and revenue of $18.04 billion, both beating estimates, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share.

Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 120.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 889,356 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 485,855 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth owned about 0.14% of Accenture worth $238,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Accenture during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 96.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price target on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Accenture from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $259.89.

Accenture Stock Up 1.4%

ACN opened at $169.95 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $155.82 and a one year high of $317.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock's fifty day moving average is $181.79 and its 200-day moving average is $221.83. The company has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.08.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Accenture's payout ratio is 53.40%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at 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.

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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