Accenture PLC $ACN Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Key Points

• Welch & Forbes LLC cut its Accenture stake by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 23,544 shares and leaving it with 88,054 shares valued at about $23.6 million.
• Accenture reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.93 versus $2.84 expected and revenue of $18.04 billion versus $17.80 billion expected, while revenue rose 7.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive: Accenture has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a $274.50 target price, even as several firms recently trimmed their price targets.

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,054 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 23,544 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $23,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 96.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its stake in Accenture by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Guggenheim cut their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Accenture Trading Up 5.0%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $187.32 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $321.77. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.Accenture's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In related news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

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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