Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in Accenture by 9.7% in Q4, selling 21,612 shares and retaining 201,735 shares valued at about $54.1 million.
• Insiders sold a total of 10,943 shares (~$2.33M) last quarter — including CEO Julie Sweet (6,057 shares) and Atsushi Egawa (4,872) — cutting their individual holdings by roughly 28% and 27.6%; insiders now own just 0.02% of the company.
• Analysts have an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a mean target price of $274.50, and Accenture recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.63 (annualized yield ~3.6%) while the stock trades near $180 with a 12‑month range of $173.65–$325.71.

M&T Bank Corp lessened its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 201,735 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 21,612 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Accenture were worth $54,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of Accenture by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ACN. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $313.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.50.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total value of $1,461,130.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 10,943 shares of company stock worth $2,327,545 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $179.96 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $196.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $119.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $173.65 and a twelve month high of $325.71.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. Accenture's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Accenture 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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