Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 120,490 Shares of Accenture PLC $ACN

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management cut its Accenture stake by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 120,490 shares and leaving it with 354,552 shares worth about $95.1 million.
• Accenture reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates with $2.93 per share on $18.04 billion in revenue, and revenue rose 7.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $271.81, even as several firms trimmed their targets.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 354,552 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 120,490 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.06% of Accenture worth $95,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 28,650 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $7,687,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Swisher Financial Concepts Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Ellevest Inc. increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 3,551 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Accenture by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter worth $221,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of NYSE ACN opened at $196.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $130.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09. Accenture PLC has a 1 year low of $155.82 and a 1 year high of $321.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.05.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.80 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 26.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Accenture PLC will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.3%. 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. HSBC cut their price target on Accenture from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Accenture from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on Accenture from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Accenture from $320.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $271.81.

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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