Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Bought by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Accenture by 36.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 43,637 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 162,315 shares valued at about $43.5 million.
• Several other large institutional investors also trimmed or added to positions, and institutional ownership remains high at 75.14%. Meanwhile, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transaction.
• Analysts have grown more cautious on the stock, with multiple firms lowering price targets and Truist downgrading Accenture to hold. Even so, the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy, and the company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates while paying a $1.63 per-share dividend.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 36.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 162,315 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,637 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $43,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,070,930 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $17,726,831,000 after purchasing an additional 854,361 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Accenture by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,135,065 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,938,156,000 after purchasing an additional 118,460 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,471,554 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $4,687,867,000 after buying an additional 343,420 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,922,212,000 after buying an additional 218,719 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,693,994 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $2,869,199,000 after buying an additional 546,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on ACN shares. Truist Financial cut shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, June 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $275.00 to $248.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $259.89.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE ACN opened at $169.95 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $317.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $181.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.83.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Accenture's payout ratio is 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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