Alps Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its Accenture stake by 73.3% in the fourth quarter, adding 91,748 shares and bringing its total holding to 216,930 shares worth about $58.2 million.
• Accenture shares were trading lower, with the stock opening at $167.69 and sitting well below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while still carrying a market cap of about $111.6 billion.
• The company beat fiscal Q2 earnings expectations, and analysts remain broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $259.89, despite several recent target cuts. Accenture also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, implying a 3.9% annual yield.

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 73.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,930 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 91,748 shares during the period. Accenture comprises about 0.3% of Alps Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $58,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.3% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.4% in the third 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 increased 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 purchasing an additional 343,420 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 218,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased 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 purchasing an additional 546,198 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 1.6%

ACN opened at $167.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $111.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $182.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.20. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $155.82 and a one year high of $318.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.9%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Accenture from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial cut Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $259.89.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related 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 owned 12,802 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate 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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