Allstate Corp Buys 23,958 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Allstate Corp more than doubled its Accenture stake in the fourth quarter, buying 23,958 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 47,119 shares worth about $12.6 million.
• Accenture continues to attract institutional interest, with 75.14% of shares owned by institutional investors despite some recent selling by insiders, including CEO Atsushi Egawa.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on the stock, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.50; Accenture also beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and pays a 3.6% dividend yield.

Allstate Corp lifted its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 103.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,119 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 23,958 shares during the period. Allstate Corp's holdings in Accenture were worth $12,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Accenture by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Accenture by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price target on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. HSBC decreased their price objective on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.50.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $179.36 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $187.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.20. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $321.77. The company has a market cap of $119.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 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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