Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $992.73 Million Stock Position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Accenture PLC by 9.0%, owning approximately 3,181,420 shares worth around $992.73 million.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $3.49, beating estimates, with revenue reaching $17.73 billion, up 7.7% year-over-year.
• Accenture declared a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, contributing to an annualized dividend yield of 2.4% with a payout ratio of 47.13%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,181,420 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after buying an additional 261,572 shares during the quarter. Accenture makes up about 0.9% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.51% of Accenture worth $992,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 778 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its position in Accenture by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 782 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,981 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $3,863,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Sentinus LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 763 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its position in Accenture by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:ACN traded down $2.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $239.07. 3,810,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,579,456. Accenture PLC has a fifty-two week low of $238.03 and a fifty-two week high of $398.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $149.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $291.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.89.

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

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio is 47.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total transaction of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,387.05. This represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $57,315.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,646,780 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Accenture from $349.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 target price (up from $390.00) on shares of Accenture in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim cut their target price on Accenture from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Accenture in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $360.21.

About Accenture

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.