Forsta AP Fonden Has $43.74 Million Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden cut its Accenture stake by 11% in the fourth quarter, selling 20,200 shares and ending with 163,029 shares valued at about $43.74 million.
• Accenture reported quarterly earnings of $2.93 per share on $18.04 billion in revenue, both ahead of analyst expectations, with revenue up 7.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain moderately bullish overall, though several recently lowered price targets; Accenture now carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average target of $274.50.

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its holdings in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,029 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 20,200 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Accenture were worth $43,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Running Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 14.3% during the third quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 57,541 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $14,190,000 after buying an additional 7,190 shares during the period. Weitz Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 28.8% during the third quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,550 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $39,592,000 after buying an additional 35,900 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Accenture by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 282,340 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $75,752,000 after acquiring an additional 61,314 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Accenture by 180.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 404,680 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $99,794,000 after acquiring an additional 260,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Accenture by 197.2% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 141,484 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $37,960,000 after acquiring an additional 93,880 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ACN shares. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Accenture from $309.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $282.00 target price on Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Accenture currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $274.50.

Accenture Price Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $187.32 on Friday. 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's 50 day moving average price is $185.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a 12-month low of $155.82 and a 12-month high of $321.77.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total transaction of $863,026.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. This trade represents a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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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