Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 24,214 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC cut its Accenture stake by 57.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 24,214 shares and ending with 18,205 shares valued at about $4.88 million.
• Accenture’s CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transaction, a move worth about $863,026 and reducing his direct ownership by 27.57%.
• Despite some analyst target cuts, Accenture reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.93 per share on $18.04 billion in revenue, and it recently paid a $1.63 quarterly dividend yielding about 3.5%.

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 57.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,205 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 24,214 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $4,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Accenture by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Accenture by 0.9% during the third quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 4,416 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.2% during the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.14, for a total value of $863,026.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,267,746.28. The trade was a 27.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACN shares. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on Accenture in a report on Thursday, March 5th. HSBC reduced their price objective on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Accenture from $266.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Accenture from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.50.

Accenture Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE ACN opened at $187.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Accenture PLC has a 1-year low of $155.82 and a 1-year high of $321.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $185.71 and a 200-day moving average of $226.37. The company has a market cap of $124.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Accenture's payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

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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