Atwater Malick LLC Cuts Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Atwater Malick LLC cut its stake by 22.4% in Accenture during Q4, selling 6,018 shares and leaving it with 20,907 shares worth $5.61 million (about 1.5% of the firm's portfolio and its 19th largest holding).
• Accenture beat quarterly expectations with $2.93 EPS (vs. $2.84 est.) and $18.04 billion revenue (up 7.8% YoY), announced a $1.63 quarterly dividend (3.4% yield), and carries a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $274.88 price target.
• Company insiders have been net sellers, offloading 20,256 shares worth $5.46 million over the past three months (insiders now own roughly 0.02% of the stock), including recent sales by General Counsel Joel Unruch and Manish Sharma.

Atwater Malick LLC cut its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,907 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 6,018 shares during the period. Accenture comprises approximately 1.5% of Atwater Malick LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Atwater Malick LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $5,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,297 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,251,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 1,865 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Accenture by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. JM2 Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $985,000. Finally, Third View Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $385,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other Accenture news, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 1,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total transaction of $289,024.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 27,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,656,887.70. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Manish Sharma sold 2,731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.13, for a total transaction of $786,883.03. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,033,333.41. This trade represents a 27.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,256 shares of company stock valued at $5,464,134. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Accenture in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Accenture from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $274.88.

Accenture Trading Up 6.9%

NYSE:ACN opened at $191.89 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $207.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $241.23. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $177.50 and a 52 week high of $325.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $127.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

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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