Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV Invests $1.96 Million in Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Lighthouse Financial Services bought a new stake in Accenture during the fourth quarter, purchasing 7,320 shares valued at about $1.96 million.
• Other institutional investors also increased their positions, and 75.14% of Accenture’s stock is now held by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Accenture reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, while analysts largely remain positive despite several target price cuts; the stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus and a $274.50 average target price.

Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,320 shares of the information technology services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,964,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,438 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its position in Accenture by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Accenture by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 828 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACN. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $317.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $330.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Accenture from $295.00 to $253.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Atsushi Egawa sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 6,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.23, for a total transaction of $1,461,130.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,255 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,963.65. The trade was a 28.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Stock Performance

Shares of ACN stock opened at $180.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Accenture PLC has a one year low of $172.52 and a one year high of $325.71. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $194.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08.

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. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ACN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report).

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.