Metis Global Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 11.1%, now owning 41,830 shares valued at approximately $13.05 million.
• Analysts generally maintain a positive outlook on Accenture, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $365.43.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, which equates to an annualized yield of 2.09%.

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,830 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,167 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $13,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Accenture in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Accenture in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Accenture in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ACN shares. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (up previously from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho set a $348.00 target price on shares of Accenture and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Accenture to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Accenture from $364.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $360.21.

Accenture Stock Performance

ACN traded down $4.59 on Thursday, hitting $269.41. 2,409,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,367,116. Accenture PLC has a 52 week low of $266.52 and a 52 week high of $398.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $300.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $320.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The information technology services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.26 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 11.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Accenture PLC will post 12.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accenture

In related news, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total value of $57,315.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,249 shares in the company, valued at $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,290,387.05. This trade represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.