Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Macquarie Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Macquarie Group cut its Accenture stake by 63.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 393,746 shares and ending with 223,081 shares worth about $59.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors increased their positions, and institutions and hedge funds now own 75.14% of Accenture’s shares.
• Analysts remain mostly constructive despite recent price-target cuts: Accenture has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, while the company also reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS and revenue and pays a quarterly dividend yielding about 3.8%.

Macquarie Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 63.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 223,081 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 393,746 shares during the quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $59,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 28.8% during the third quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $39,592,000 after purchasing an additional 35,900 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $75,752,000 after purchasing an additional 61,314 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 180.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $99,794,000 after purchasing an additional 260,357 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 197.2% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $37,960,000 after purchasing an additional 93,880 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Accenture by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 557,516 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $149,582,000 after purchasing an additional 149,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. 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 report on Monday, March 16th. Truist Financial downgraded Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Accenture from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $259.89.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of 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 company has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $181.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.83. 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 announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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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