Hantz Financial Services Inc. Reduces Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Hantz Financial Services Inc. reduced its Accenture stake by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,911 shares and leaving it with 54,948 shares valued at about $14.7 million.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Accenture despite recent price-target cuts, with 17 Buy ratings and 10 Hold ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” target of $274.50.
• Accenture reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates with $2.93 EPS on $18.04 billion in revenue, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share for a 3.6% annualized yield.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. cut its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 54,948 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 6,911 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Accenture were worth $14,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ACN. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Accenture by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 110 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Accenture from $282.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $243.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.50.

Accenture Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ACN stock opened at $179.36 on Monday. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $321.77. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $187.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.65. The firm has a market cap of $119.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.08. 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 results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. Accenture'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 business posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

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

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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