Arizona State Retirement System Decreases Holdings in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System cut its Accenture stake by 3.6% in Q4, selling 6,569 shares and now holding 175,311 shares valued at about $47.04 million.
• Insiders sold stock recently, with CEO Julie Sweet selling 6,057 shares and John F. Walsh 3,986 shares; insiders sold a total of 14,305 shares (~$3.76M) over the last three months, leaving insider ownership at 0.02%.
• Accenture beat recent quarterly estimates and announced a dividend, reporting $2.93 EPS on $18.04B revenue and declaring a $1.63 quarterly dividend ($6.52 annualized, a 3.7% yield); analysts' average target is $274.50 with mixed ratings.

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 175,311 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 6,569 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Accenture were worth $47,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Accenture by 132.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Accenture in the third quarter worth $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its position in Accenture by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John F. Walsh sold 3,986 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.38, for a total value of $1,101,650.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,523,339.98. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 14,305 shares of company stock worth $3,759,847 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACN opened at $178.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $200.73 and a 200 day moving average of $238.35. The stock has a market cap of $118.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.24. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $174.87 and a 12 month high of $325.71. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Accenture from $251.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.50.

About Accenture

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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