ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Takes Position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has made a new investment in Accenture PLC, acquiring 166,489 shares valued at approximately $51.95 million, which represents 0.8% of its portfolio.
• Accenture recently reported earnings of $3.49 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue increase of 7.7% year-over-year, reaching $17.73 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, which will be paid on August 15th, reflecting a yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 47.13%.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 166,489 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $51,955,000. Accenture accounts for 0.8% of ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In other Accenture news, CEO Mauro Macchi sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $141,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,582.22. The trade was a 17.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total value of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,454 shares of company stock worth $1,646,780 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN traded down $2.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $239.07. The stock had a trading volume of 3,810,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,579,456. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $291.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.89. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $238.03 and a fifty-two week high of $398.35.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Accenture's payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ACN shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 target price (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. HSBC began coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "reduce" rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $360.21.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.