Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Cornerstone Wealth Group cut its Accenture stake by 87.8% in Q4, selling 32,058 shares and retaining 4,465 shares worth about $1.20 million.
• Accenture beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $2.93 vs. $2.84 and revenue of $18.04 billion (up 7.8% YoY), and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.63 ($6.52 annual, 3.4% yield; ex-dividend April 9, payable May 15).
• Several analysts trimmed price targets recently, but the consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $274.50.

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lowered its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 87.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,465 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 32,058 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $1,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jacobsen Capital Management bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at about $256,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Accenture by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 190,055 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $50,992,000 after buying an additional 74,394 shares during the period. Diversified Management Inc. bought a new position in Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at about $429,000. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Accenture by 100.8% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych grew its position in Accenture by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 5,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $1,489,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ACN. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Catherine Kiernan Hogan sold 660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total value of $185,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,564,439.84. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 3,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.01, for a total value of $1,008,263.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,298,380.79. The trade was a 30.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 15,331 shares of company stock valued at $4,048,871 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $194.02 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $177.50 and a 12-month high of $325.71. The company has a market cap of $129.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company's 50-day moving average price is $205.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.24.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

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