Broyhill Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 7,504 Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Broyhill Asset Management opened a new position in Accenture, buying 7,504 shares worth about $2.0 million in the fourth quarter. The stake now represents 1.8% of Broyhill’s holdings and is its 19th-largest position.
• Wall Street sentiment remains generally constructive, with 17 Buy ratings and 10 Hold ratings on the stock. The consensus view is a Moderate Buy with a target price of $259.89, though several firms recently cut their price targets.
• Accenture posted solid quarterly results, beating expectations with $2.93 EPS on $18.04 billion in revenue, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share for a 3.8% yield. However, CEO Atsushi Egawa recently sold shares in a pre-arranged transaction.

Broyhill Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,504 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,013,000. Accenture comprises 1.8% of Broyhill Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Accenture by 96.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on ACN shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Accenture from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on Accenture in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on Accenture from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $259.89.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $169.95 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $181.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 12 month low of $155.82 and a 12 month high of $317.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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