Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Kingsview Wealth Management LLC cut its Accenture stake by 74.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,891 shares and leaving it with 9,047 shares worth about $2.43 million.
• Accenture reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.93 versus $2.84 expected and revenue of $18.04 billion, up 7.8% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, implying an annualized yield of 3.5%, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $274.50.

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 74.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,047 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 26,891 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $2,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 126,435 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $33,923,000 after buying an additional 42,473 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter valued at $425,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 3,559 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 2,554 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,656,436 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $3,922,212,000 after buying an additional 218,719 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 5.0%

ACN stock opened at $187.32 on Friday. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $155.82 and a fifty-two week high of $321.77. The business's 50-day moving average is $185.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $124.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.08.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 26.33% and a net margin of 10.61%.The company had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. Accenture's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler set a $282.00 price objective on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, 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. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Accenture presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.50.

About Accenture

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.