Fourth Sail Capital LP Has $38.26 Million Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Fourth Sail Capital LP boosted its Accenture stake by 158.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 142,600 shares valued at about $38.26 million. Accenture is now its second-largest holding and makes up 6.1% of the portfolio.
• Several analysts trimmed price targets on Accenture, with firms including Deutsche Bank, RBC, Truist, and TD Cowen adjusting views amid a broader consensus of Moderate Buy. MarketBeat says the stock has 17 Buy ratings and 10 Hold ratings, with a consensus target price of $259.89.
• Accenture reported solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue expectations, and also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share for a 3.8% annualized yield. The shares opened at $169.95, well below the stock’s 52-week high of $317.30.

Fourth Sail Capital LP grew its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 158.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 142,600 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 87,400 shares during the period. Accenture comprises about 6.1% of Fourth Sail Capital LP's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Fourth Sail Capital LP's holdings in Accenture were worth $38,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ACN. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,746.28. This 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $210.00 to $199.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial cut shares of Accenture from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $258.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $201.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $259.89.

Accenture Price Performance

Shares of Accenture stock opened at $169.95 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 has a market capitalization of $113.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.08. Accenture PLC has a twelve month low of $155.82 and a twelve month high of $317.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.83.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given 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 was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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